


Downfall

by itz_moni



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Actually quite a bit of it tbh, Chiaki's kinda mean too, Hajime is lowkey an ass, I'm not the best at writing characters, Kokichi and Nagito are best friends, Nagisa and Nagito are bros, No Despair AU, Small amount of Angst... I think?, They just wanna be loved, This is my first time writing btw, adopted nagito, nagito isnt a creep anymore, slowburn, some drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:08:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26522662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itz_moni/pseuds/itz_moni
Summary: Nagito had never made any friends when he moved to each different school, until he met Makoto. Now, in the quick span of two months, he had already overcome his awkwardness and odd fantasies about hope and despair. Things were really looking up for him. So when his mother had told him how they’d be moving away permanently from Hopes Peak, it definitely took him by surprise. Nagito should have expected this. He knew he had crummy luck. As soon as Nagito enters his new school, he'll turn into a complete nobody once again.That's what he thought to himself.Oh boy, was he wrong.Hajime Hinata had grown popular at Jabberwock High over the years. When he meets the new kid however, everything takes a full 180. Relationships get ruined, reputations are destroyed, everyone's normal high school life changes because of one student named Nagito Komaeda.
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Iruma Miu, Harukawa Maki/Momota Kaito, Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito, Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko/Pekoyama Peko, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 41
Kudos: 87





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagito has one last conversation with his friend Makoto, about the past and the future, and then he talks to his younger brother about it, before he finally leaves.

"So, this is the last day that I get to see you?"

Makoto and Nagito had been sitting at their normal hangout spot when the topic was brought up. They always sat and ate at the benches during lunch time when they met up. Makoto was one of Nagito's best friends. Makoto Naegi was extremely popular among the school, and was very kindhearted towards everyone. It made Nagito extremely happy that he was willing to make time to sit with person like him. He was truly a great guy. After a beat of silence Nagito looked down to his shoes before nodding.

"Yeah, my mom told me yesterday that today would be our final day here. Nagisa and I were both really upset, obviously. The argument we had with her was dragged on for an hour until she finally sent us into our rooms," Nagito groaned, placing his hand onto his own forehead. If you got a good look at his face, you would easily tell that what he was saying was the truth. The dark circles under his eyes were clearly visible as day. He slouched down his seat.

After his parents had died, Nagito had been adopted by his new mother when he had turned fourteen. There was only one reason that he was happy that he was able to be in the hands of his mother, and that was Nagisa. Nagisa was only nine when Nagito was adopted. He was incredibly formal, and almost seemed much more responsible than himself, but there was something odd about him. His eyes always seemed tired, and he was barely ever seen outside the house. While checking in on Nagisa, Nagito found out that the boy had been forced by his own father to stay up to study for more than two dakys, and there were cameras in his room. That was the day when Nagito stood up to his father, which resulted in a really horrific fight, a few stitches, and an arrest. Ever since then, Nagisa had been slowly recovering for the past few years, and their brotherly bond had grown even stronger, despite their abusive mother. He loved Nagisa very very much.

"I'm glad that your little brother isn't afraid of standing up for himself now," Makoto said with a small, distant smile. Nagito hummed tiredly in response. Silence soon filled the air, until Makoto spoke up once again.

"Well, you better promise you'll give me a call! Or at least a text! C'mon! pinky swear?" Makoto perked up, shoving his pinkie finger towards his best friend. Nagito couldn't help but roll his eyes, a smile quickly forming on his face. Makoto's childish energy had never failed to make Nagito smile. He had an enthusiastic kind of charm to him, and it was something Nagito admired about Makoto. He decided to also be childish. He grinned at Makoto and made an embarrassing remark.

"Only if you promise that you ask that boy you talk about all the time. Or should I say, Byakuya?" he teased. As if almost immediately, his friend's face turned bright red. Makoto had usually brought up his name and personality when they sat here and idly chat about anything that came to mind, and Nagito seemed to catch onto it.

"Wait- Huh?!- Byakuya?! Hahahaha, I don't know what you're talking about," he sputtered with a nervous laugh. "Am I really that obvious?" he said after, blush still evident on his face.

"Not really, I think it's just because I know you pretty well," Nagito chuckled. "He seems pretty fond of you." He received a glare in response. "Anyways, I promise," he smiled, linking his own pinky with the other's. Makoto simply huffed and looked away in embarrassment, not particularly because of the pinky promise but more so because the mention of his crush.

They began eating in silence, with comfortable aura enveloping the area. It felt.. nice. He was happy that this would be the last place they'd meet, because this is where the two became friends. The memory came back to him.

====

It all started about a month ago. It was raining outside. The drops of water quickly drenched Nagito's coat in a matter of seconds. A normal person would have gotten out of the rain to seek shelter, but he wasn't an ordinary guy. He liked the feel of the drizzling rain. And ever since he started attending Hope's Peak, he'd always sit all alone at the same bench every day. Nobody wanted anything to do with him and he hadn't wanted anything to do with them.

Nagito stared into space, and left himself with his thoughts. He was too busy thinking to himself to hear the conversation going on close by. It was between two girls. One was wearing a bright pink raincoat, while the other girl was wearing a yellow one accompanied by an umbrella. they were part of the cheer team. As soon as they recognized him they stopped in their tracks.

"Wow, what a weirdo. There's seriously something off about him. I don't like Komaeda one bit," one girl commented, glancing at him in unease and slight disgust.

"Yeah. He's one of the new kids, right?" another girl replied. She turned towards, a short boy, who was going on a walk, and had overheard their current conversation. The two suddenly perked up when they realized that it was Makoto who had been listening. "Ohhh, hey Makotooo! What about you?"

"Er... what about me?" he replied, pretending as if he hadn't heard the previous comments towards the white fluffy haired boy.

"What do you think of Nagito Komaeda, the freak?"

"Uh... I don't think he's a freak at all," he simply stated. the girls looked at him in what seemed like disappointment.

"Wow, okay then. Oh! We have cheer practice! Crap, we have to go or else we're going to be late! Byeee, Makoto!!" the girl wearing pink quickly dashed back into the school, with the other girl trailing behind her. Makoto looked at the bench where Komaeda sat as a thought came into his head.

'Should I with him? I see Nagito sit here all the time by himself. He seems lonely.'

Without thinking, he marched to the bench where Nagito was, plopped himself onto the seat and leaned over to face him.

"Hey! Mind if I sit here?" he asked. The sudden closeness and noise snapped Nagito out of his trance.

"U-uh! Of course not!" He said hastily, clearly shocked that Makoto Naegi was all up in his space like that. Nagito took a deep breath. He wasn’t usually nervous like this. Makoto shot him a grin and pulled out his lunch.

They ate in the rain in silence. And after a while, the bell rang.

"See you tomorrow!" Makoto smiled.

"Are you sitting here again? You can if you w-want of course!"

"That's exactly what I was gonna do. you just seem comfortable to be around. Heheh, sorry if that sounded weird," Makoto scratched the back of his neck.

"Um... of course! T-thanks for sitting with me, Makoto!" Nagito forced those words out. He was really out of it for some reason. Usually he'd be less nervous. "M-maybe we can become uh.... Ultimate l-lunch buddies?" the words of nonsense came out of his mouth before he even realized it and quickly slapped his hand over his mouth, leaving the other boy laughing light heartedly.

"Sure!" is all he said before turning away.

And so, every time at lunch, Makoto would sit outside with Nagito. Finally, they had more conversations until finally, in the span of only two weeks, it bloomed into friendship.

====

This was where they were now in a span of a month or two. Right after making a first friend, getting over his "hope and despair" addiction and learning how to be social, he had to leave. He just started talking to more people who Makoto introduced him to, and they got along well. That's Makoto's voice interrupted his memory and drew him back to reality.

"Aw! I'm going to miss you Nagito! You were my ultimate lunch buddy! And my best friend!" he exclaimed with a giggle and a bone crushing hug. Nagito returned the hug to the smaller boy.

"I'll miss you too, Makoto. Don't forget that I here for you, and you better call me if somethings up. Also, please don't mention the whole lunch buddies thing," he sighed, smile still evident on his face.

"Of course I'm going to keep saying it," he said with a playful smirk. "You're the best!" Makoto hugged him once again. They stayed like that for a while. It probably looked awkward from where other people were watching, but for Nagito, it felt right for him. It was quiet for who knows long, before the bell finally rang.

"Well, looks like I'll be on my way then." the two slowly parted from their embrace, both on the verge of tears.

"Wow, are we really gonna cry right now?" Makoto asked with a small laugh.

"It sure seems that way. Let's go."

They both stood up, packed their things up and hurried their way inside. the halls were practically empty. They decided to walk down the hallway to their classrooms. Nagito's was the closest, and was upstairs. Makoto's class was downstairs, and a little far ahead from him. They walked in silence, arms brushing slightly each time they took a step. When Makoto dropped him off and sent him one happy glance, Nagito stopped and turned and called to his friend.

"Hey wait!"

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say... Goodbye Makoto. I hope we will meet again. I'll miss you. Thank you for everything."

"I... hope we do too. Bye Nagito! Make sure you give me a call!" And with that, Makoto gave him one final smile before turning his back away from him.

\----

It was an early morning when Nagito picked up the heavy suitcase filled with his belongings. He tried to bring everything that he possibly fit into his bags: Books, pictures, clothing, and his new school supplies already bought from the store a few minutes away. As he gathered his things inside the suitcase, he suddenly stopped as he lay pictures on top of the mess. His eyes lingered on the last photo he brought with him, which had himself and a few of his friends. Makoto, Chihiro, Asahina and Kyoko. Byakuya was also in it, standing right next to the shorter boy. He was surprisingly not frowning and instead had a small smile on his face. This picture was Nagito's favourite one, because finally, he was able to become make friends all thanks to Makoto.

"Nagitoooo!! Hurry up!" A voice was heard down from the hallway. Soon enough, A head popped into his room, revealing his blue haired brother, Nagisa. "We're leaving in soon! We cannot be late!"

The younger boy reminded Nagito of one of his newer friends, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, who always got upset at people when they were late to class. Kiyotaka was a sweet guy, and Nagito undeniably knew that he had feelings for another boy who was the total opposite of him- Mondo Owada. He smiled faintly, thinking about his soon-to-be old school. Nagisa scoffed and folded his arms in annoyance, earning his attention from Nagito once again.

"Hello? Are you even listening?" Nagisa crouched down where Nagito sat and waved his own hand in front of him.

"I'm sorry... It's just that I'm really gonna miss this place, you know?" Nagito sighed, slightly tilting and lowering his head.

"Well... Yeah... Me too." he admitted, fiddling with his fingers and looking away. "I don't understand why our mom has to do this to us. We've been moving everywhere and when we finally find a nice place to settle in, she has to turn things around."

"Yeah."

"But that doesn't mean we should give up on hope." When he said that, Nagito raised an eyebrow. Nagisa continued, despite the new look on his face. "Adapting is very crucial when it comes to life. It is the key to being successful. I know this may have hurt you more than the other times we moved, but maybe this time we'll be okay. We just need to hope for the best okay?"

Nagito was surprised to hear that from his brother. Nagisa was always the wise one, giving him advice like this. It made him think of how much he'd changed. His frown turned into a smile.

"You're right... You're right! Thank you Nagisa! You really are the smartest boy I know," Nagito pulled him into a hug, ruffling his hair in the process.

"H-hey! I just combed my hair! Stop!" Nagisa's struggles fill the room, as well as Nagito's laughter. And after what lasted for an eternity, he was able to squirm his way out of his iron grip, a flush visible on his face.

"You better pack up, now!" he spat.

"Yes, of course, your majesty," was all the older brother replied with, while rolling his eyes. Nagisa huffed and briskly walked out of the room in embarrassment. He hated when Nagito said cringe-inducing things like that, but he really was the best brother that Nagito could have asked for. With that, he gently placed the photo he had been holding back into his olive green suitcase. He dragged his tired self out of the room into the living room, inspecting it one last time. The shelves were wiped, and the pictures on the wall were removed. It looked completely empty, considering that there was barely any furniture in the home to begin with.

He continued his way down the hallway until he reached the big wooden door in front of him. He spun around to look at his surroundings one last time. Although living here had never been the best, it would be a lie if he were to say that he wasn't going to miss this place. Taking a deep breath, Nagito twisted the door knob before taking a step out of the house. Nagisa was already there, sitting inside the car. With a sigh, Nagito quickly grabbed his bag and suitcase and came over to the trunk. It was really crowded. Instead of putting both of them in there, he only put the suitcase inside, and carried his backpack to the backseat to sit with his little brother.

"Seriously Nagito? You're such a lazy, annoying ass sometimes. You're old enough to not take this long! My goodness, you are such a disappointment," his mom groaned in mild anger while starting up the car. All he did in return was roll his eyes before leaning back in his seat. Nagito got yelled at enough to the point where he would just straight up ignore all her complaints, or talk back to her, but he seriously was not in the mood. He stared gloomily out of his window as the car started to move away from his house, as everything seemed to slowly fade away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagito unpacks his stuff at his new home, and he also finds out the new school he will be attending.

"Nagito...? Nagito, wake up!" Nagito quickly awoke to a pain in his arm. He looked up to see Nagisa staring at him and punching his arm. Nagito groaned and slowly opened his eyes.

"What do you want, Nagisa?" he grumbled groggily. His little brother sighed and struck his arm again. "Hey!" he argued, finally sitting up in his seat.

"We're here," the blue-haired boy responded. "You ended up falling asleep. Mom's out of the car already, so let's go inside and help unpack our stuff." He opened the car door and jumped out of the car. Nagito took a good stretch before looking through the window to take a better look at the house they bought, even though he had already been there before. It was relatively small but still looked nice and decent from the outside. The yard wasn't that large, and some steps led to the front door. Yawning, Nagito opened the car door and stepped out of the car.

He walked to the back of the car to find only his belongings in it. There wasn't much they needed to unpack, mainly because they already have done it beforehand. He pulled the suitcase he had been carrying before and brought it out of the car. Nagito walked and dragged it to the doorstep. The door had been left open by Nagisa, so he walked in. The first thing he had witnessed inside his new home was his mother lying on the couch in the living room, fast asleep. He rolled his eyes as he closed the door behind him. Why did she act like this?

When Nagito walked inside the house, he found Nagisa unpacking his own things, and placing them on the small shelves and desk in the room. Nagisa had a pretty nice room- the walls were a pale blue, and the additional white furniture only made it look cleaner. The window was large. Additionally, the curtains that were with the window were navy blue. Nagisa hadn't seen him enter; he was too focused on lining each of his books and figurines to fit on the small shelf. After a few moments, he turned to face Nagito, who he had finally just noticed.

"What do you want?" Nagisa asked, one eyebrow raised. His brother shrugged, not knowing why he came to the room, to begin with."

"Oh, me? Nothing really, I just came to check up on you." he smiled awkwardly. Nagisa rolled his eyes.

"Sure," is all that he muttered in reply.

Nagito proceeded to walk further down the hall until he was met by the door to his room. He had to admit that his new bedroom wasn't all that bad either. Although his room wasn't as bright and colorful as Nagisa's, it looked just as tidy. The room was a bit larger, the room's walls were a very light grey, and his furniture was also white. Nagito thought it looked much cleaner than his other room, but it felt strange living in a place like this. He felt homesick. He wanted to see Makoto and his friends.

He quietly started to unpack his items as well while listening to music from his phone. He placed some shirts and other clothing into his drawers. Nagito took the pictures which were in his suitcase and stuck them to the wall using some craft tape that he had also found at the school supply store and put the school supplies he bought onto his desk.

After an hour had passed by, he had finished tidying up his room. Exhausted, he fell back onto his new bed. It was soft and comfy, and Nagito had thought he would fall asleep right there until he heard a loud voice from the other side of the door.

"Nagito! Get your shit together and come eat, right now!" right away, he knew who that voice was. He slowly got up from his bed before walking into the kitchen. Nagisa was already there, sitting and eating his dinner at the table. Nagito filled his own plate before taking a seat right next to him. Curious, he shot a question at his mom, who had been washing her hands in the kitchen.

"When do we start school?" he asked her, before digging a spoon into his meal. She sighed before answering.

"You two are leaving tomorrow," she stated simply, taking both of the boys off guard.

"T-tomorrow?!" they choked.

"Yeah. No shit, it's Tuesday tomorrow," their mom grumbled. Both Nagito and Nagisa shot each other a look.

"Oh my god. What school are we even going to? I thought we would be going to school, like next week."

"No way. You two need to study and also get good grades for the future. I don't want to be around you pricks anyway, since you've already done enough damage to my name," She vented, clenching her fists before continuing. "Nagito is going to Jabberwock High, and you, Nagisa, are going to Jabberwock Middle School."

Nagito had recognized that name before because Makoto's close friend Kyoko had mentioned that school. Nagito remembered her telling him about somebody named... What was their name again? Sushi? Suzie? He didn't quite remember, since that was a while ago. Kyoko and this other student were apparently very close friends who usually talked outside of school. Maybe Nagito would be able to meet them!

"Jabberwock Middle School?" Nagisa uttered to himself aloud. "It seems they have an elementary and a middle school affiliated with the high school. Just like Hopes Peak."

Nagisa and Nagito discussed the school for a little while by themselves, until their dinner that they forgot about went cold. After washing them and cleaning them, they went to their separate rooms. It was only nine at night, but he was still tired. He flopped onto the bed and pulled out his phone. He set an alarm clock for early in the morning. Before he turned his phone off, he heard a loud "ding!" coming from his phone. It was a text message from Makoto.

_'hey nagito! how's your new home?'_

Nagito smiled and texted him back.

_'makoto!! it's boring here without you, but guess what? i'm going to jabberwock high!'_

_'what?! no way wait i gotta tell kyoko rn!'_

They both continued messaging until Nagito had fallen asleep, phone in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after this chapter, we're probably gonna introduce new characters, stay tuned for that stuff! Also, sorry for making this chapter super short, ill try harder to add a little more words next chapter, these are more like quick fillers for the story to kind of make more sense instead of having a huge time skip, yk?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagito's first day of school. He gets lost, but somebody is here to help.

Komaeda quickly awoke to a loud noise coming from his phone, reverberating in the room. Groaning, he turned it off before it caused more angry complaints from his mom. She always got enraged whenever he left the alarm on for too long and yelled at him for being disruptive while she slept. She was so irresponsible that she hadn't even bothered waking up until later, leaving Nagito to do the chores. His mom didn't want to drive him to school and never did. Usually, Nagito took the bus, and he would do the same today. He checked his phone for the time.

 _6:30? Wow, that's pretty later than I expected. I mean, I guess I can sleep in a lot most of the time, heh._ Nagito thought to himself, before hoisting himself off of the bed, causing the frame to make a creaking noise. He stretched his arms and let out a big yawn before exiting his room. He stood up and left, shutting his door behind him.

Right now, his number one priority was to take a shower. He felt like a total mess, and looked like one too- his eyes looked drained, and his hair looked like a bird's nest. Although his hair is naturally unkempt and very messy, He's able to brush some locks most of the time, but mornings are the absolute worst. Nagito looked like he had been run over by a big train.

He tiptoed down the hall until he had reached the bathroom. There were towels already hung up inside, so the first thing he did was get out of his white baggy tank top and shorts before hopping into the shower. He flinched from the cold water hitting his upper body at first before it had gradually begun to heat up.

Nagito did not finish showering until another five minutes had passed. He quickly dried himself off and stepped out of the shower, tying a towel around his waist. Nagito then brushed and dried his white, dripping hair using a brush and blow-dryer, hoping that it wouldn't be too loud to use. It wasn't too long before his hair became back to its fluffy self. He walked both awkwardly and briskly out of the bathroom to the room he had slept the night before. He opened the drawers to scan its contents. Thinking to himself, Nagito stared at the clothing that he had been rummaging for the last minute.

 _What should I wear today?_ he wondered.

In the end, he decided to wear something comfortable for him. A white t-shirt was all he needed, along with some grey sweatpants and a light minty green sweater. Most of the time, Nagito didn't spend too much time on his outfits and his appearance, but he wanted to look a little more presentable for his first day at Jabberwock High. First impressions were important.

He grabbed his bag filled with the school supplies he brought with him beforehand and went to the kitchen. If Nagito had enough time, he would have made himself a sandwich, but the time had somehow gone by very fast. He took a glance at the black clock hanging on the wall for the time. The time read 7:20, and Nagito started to panic.

_Damn it! I need to get to the bus in ten minutes at most!_

Instead of making himself breakfast, he dashed back into his room where lay a few dollar bills on his white wooden desk.

I'll buy myself something from the cafeteria, I guess, Nagito sighed to himself. He was really craving something to eat in the morning, but that didn't particularly matter to him. He came to the door and put on his two beat-up sneakers before running outside, almost forgetting to close and lock the door. He continued dashing down the grey sidewalk. Luckily, it would probably take five minutes at most to get there.

After a long run, he had finally found the bus waiting for his arrival. Anyone could have noticed that bright yellow painted vehicle anywhere. This was Jabberwock's school bus without any doubt because there was a black label on the back.

As the door opened, a man with some long and crazy brown locks greeted him with a big lopsided grin.

"Hey, what's up, dude?! You must be one of the new kids, 'cause I don't think I've ever seen you before, man!" The man smiled, slapping Nagito on the back.

This... was the last person Nagito had expected to be his bus driver. The bus driver seemed very carefree and was pretty relaxed. There was something about the man that Nagito recognized but couldn't put his finger on it. Lost in thought, the older boy snapped his fingers at him to get his attention. "Hello? You there, buddy?"

"Huh?" Nagito quickly looked up at him. "S-sorry! I was just lost in thought."

The man stared at him with his chocolate brown eyes. "Lost in thought, eh? Well, okay. What's your name, newbie?"

Newbie? Nagito's thoughts echoed in his head. This guy is a strange one, that's for sure. He ignored the name that the man gave him and replied anyway.

"The name's Nagito Komaeda." After he introduced himself, the other man brightened.

"You're Nagito!? Dude, that's sick! Makoto told me all about you, man! This is so cool!"

"Oh!" Nagito lit up. "You know Makoto?"

"Yeah," The bus driver replied. "He's in my class!"

"Wait," Nagito thought aloud. "If you're in his class, why are you a bus driver right now? Our school does start later in our school, but aren't you supposed to be a student?"

"Well, I guess I just need to earn some money y' know? Also, I'm twenty-two now. Yeah, I failed a couple of grades, sure, but that doesn't mean I can't drive!" he said with an absolutely fearless smile. "Anyway, go find a place to sit, man! You're the last one here, so you gotta find an empty seat."

Nagito let out a small chuckle at his obvious remark and walked down the aisle. There were plenty of seats, but most of them were taken by the other students. Some sent glances in his direction while others simply talked to their friends or played games on their phones. There was only one seat left in the back with a student looking at the window.

When Nagito first saw him, he really thought he was imagining things. This boy seemed very short for his age, that was for sure. He wore a jet black leather jacket and some striped black-and-blue clothing. On top of his head was a little pointy hat with two tennis rackets shown on the front. He reluctantly took a seat beside him. The boy who looked out the window turned to face him.

"Hello. You're definitely a new kid since you decided to sit right next to me on your first day..." The small man said in a low pitched voice, his dark grey eyes piercing into him. Nagito first thought his looks were unexpected, but his voice completely took him off guard. "If I may ask, what is your name?"

Nagito's mind felt all jumbled up, but he gave him a kind smile and introduced himself.

"My name is Nagito Komaeda! I used to go to Hopes Peak, but I actually moved into my house yesterday. My mom really wanted me to start school already, so here I am. What's your name?" Nagito asked him in return. The man gave a small chuckle.

"Aren't you the energetic one... It definitely seems you've still got a ways to go," he plainly replied, turning away to look at the window. Despite Nagito's confused face, he continued. "My name is Ryoma Hoshi. I used to be part of the tennis team, but that isn't the case anymore and no longer matters..." his voice grew quieter as he went on. "A long while ago, I saw someone hurting another person, so I had used a talent I was good at and got them beat up pretty badly... I was kicked out of the team and have not touched a tennis ball ever since."

Nagito did not know how to reply to that. He felt sympathy for Ryoma because all he wanted to do was to help someone in danger, and his own talent had been taken away from him just like that.

"Ah, I see..." Nagito said lamely. "That must be very hard for you. I'm sorry that you had to go through that, Ryoma." the shorter man only partly smiled at his kind words. The two talked and laughed for the rest of the ride. Nagito was already able to warm up to Ryoma. His calm and easy-going demeanor and attitude are what helped Nagito to keep their conversations worth-while. When the bus halted at a stop, it only felt like a few minutes have passed.

"Well, it seems that our discussion is going to have to wait. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" Ryoma gave an undecipherable grin and a thumbs up. Nagito smiled back and nodded. He already made one friend. Things were going pretty well for his first day here. They both stood up and went their separate ways, Ryoma giving him one wave before walking away.

Nagito took one second to look at the school that stood in front of him. For a public school, it still looked very... classy? Fancy? The walls were painted a white-ish grey, and the building was short, about two or three floors at the most, but the building was wide. No wonder so many people like going here; this place was gigantic!

The bell suddenly rang, and he stopped staring at the school. Now wasn't the time to ramble on about how the school looked! He didn't even have his schedule, for Pete's sake. While he was mentally panicking, a swarm of students had already made their way inside the building. Trying to calm himself down and gain his composure, he waited for most of the students to come inside before doing so himself. It was probably better if he hadn't been noticed right now.

_Aw, shit. I wished I asked Ryoma for some help._

The hallways were long and narrow. What made things more difficult for Nagito to find his way to the office was the number of students in the hallways at once. Everything was absolutely crowded, and he had a lot of trouble seeing. Instead of fighting through large amounts of people, he decided to stand somewhere not-so-crowded before they died down. After wandering around, still lost like a small bird, he was finally able to navigate to the office. It took him so long that most of the students were in their assigned classes already. Sighing, Nagito gave the door a knock, unsure if he was allowed to barge inside without permission.

After a few seconds, the door swung open to reveal a young woman with light pink hair, along with white streaks at the tips. She wore a bright pink shirt that read "Be Kind!" She gave him a wave and greeted him in a very bubbly voice.

"Hello! I am Miss Usami! I am so happy that you are here! Next time, you can just open the door by yourself!" How many times was Nagito going to be thrown off by everybody's voices?! Instead of bringing up that topic, he had more important things to say.

"Hi," he replied, while the bright teacher took a seat in her chair. "I'm a new student here, and I need my schedule since I haven't received one yet. My name is Nagito Komaeda."

"Nagito Komaeda? Wow! What a cool name!" she said rather excitedly. Nagito was a little ticked off by her cheerfulness and only hummed in response to her strange comment. After a few seconds of silence had passed, she handed him a sheet of paper. "Here you go, Nagito! Your first class for today is... Drama! Isn't that exciting!? You get to act and do performances!"

"Yeah, sure. I'll be going now. Thank you, Miss Usami!" Nagito replied as kindly as he could. She was sort of treating him like a little kid now. Miss Usami's smile took over all her features. It kind of creeped him out for some reason.

"No problem, Hunny! Remember that the way to the Drama room is all the way to your left! Now, hurry! Don't try to waste your time in the office. Have fun!" When Nagito left the room, he suddenly got confused about where he was supposed to turn.

Wait... Did she mean, my left or her left? Nagito contemplated on whether or not he should go back to Miss Usami's office but ultimately decided not to because one, that would be a pretty awkward situation to be in. Two, her attitude was not something he'd like to face multiple times, and three- he had already wasted enough time standing around, doing nothing. He took a sharp left turn and stopped at one of the doors. Taking a deep breath, he entered the room.

Right away, he knew that this was the wrong room. It definitely didn't seem like the drama room, that's for sure. Before he was able to leave, a voice stopped him.

_Ah, just my luck._

"Hey you, why in the world are you so late?!" A man with slicked-back hair and glasses yelled furiously. Everybody turned to face Nagito, who was still standing at the doorway.

_Well... This is awkward..._

Nagito politely spoke up to the teacher who yelled at him. "Sorry, mister. This is my first day here. Do you happen to know where the drama room is?" The teacher wasn't as mad as he was earlier, but he was definitely still irritated.

"Oh. I see. Well then..." He paused for a second before calling out a name. "Mr. Hinata!"

_Hmm... Hinata? I wonder who-_

A boy with spikey, light brown hair (which had reminded him of Makoto) looked up from his phone. He looked like one of the cliche popular kids, and being completely honest, Nagito decided he probably was one of them. His skin looked tan, and he wore a simple denim jacket with a red sweatshirt under it. He had to be honest- this guy was attractive.

"What's up?" he asked the man standing in front of him, totally unaware of the situation unfolding.

"You are to escort this boy," He pointed to Nagito standing by the door, "to the drama room this instant, instead of gazing at your phone for a whole hour. Speaking of which... Please hand me your phone."

"Oh yeah... sure, I guess," the brunette grumbled, standing up from his seat and walking towards the teacher. He quickly dropped the phone into his hands before looking in Nagito's direction. After reaching him at the doorway, he mumbled a "let's go," and walked out of the classroom. Nagito curtly nodded, shutting the door behind him, trailing behind. When he got a better look at him, he saw that he had heterochromatic eyes. The boys walked in silence before one of them finally spoke up.

"I don't think I recognize you," Hinata said aloud. They were both walking down the large hallway, the room still farther away than expected. How did he even end up in that classroom? Nagito rolled his eyes at his comment and turned to face him.

"Well, yeah. Of course, you don't," Nagito replied sarcastically. "This is my first day here, anyways. My name is Nagito. Nagito Komaeda," he shot a small playful grin at him and introduced himself to the other boy. Very subtly, his eyes perked up in curiosity, though Nagito just barely missed it. 

"Hey, I never caught your actual name." The other quickly turned back to him, giving him an indecipherable look. He didn't say anything until he had reached the knob on the door, close to opening it.

"I'm Hajime Hinata. I've been called Izuru as a nickname before, but unless some serious shit happens, I recommend sticking with the name Hajime." with those empty words, he left the other confused. It seemed like a topic he did not want to discuss. Although he was intrigued, he decided to change the subject to make Hajime more comfortable, but he did that before him.

"Anyway, enough talking about me, I get talked about all the time. Let's talk about _you._ What's your life all about?" Nagito took a breath. He always used the practiced speech when anybody bothered asking about him.

"Well, to put it simply, my parents died in a plane crash a long time ago. Since I was an only child with no family, I ended up getting adopted. It turns out my father was a delusional guy who thought it would be interesting by abusing my younger brother by pushing him to study every day without getting any sleep as an experiment. When I found about it, I thought it would be a good idea to fight him, and that's what I did. He got arrested or whatever and I got the best little brother in the world, but now we have an utterly irresponsible mom who doesn't help with anything. Yeah, that's basically it." Hajime gawked at Nagito, speechless for a moment. This was the usual reaction to his story whenever he finished talking. Nagito spoke once more, additionally adding another fact to his little speech.

"Oh yeah, also, I went to Hope's Peak and a bunch of other schools. I have a best friend named Makoto and many other ones in that school. Anyways, I'm genuinely interested in learning about you. So, how about you?"

"Dude, I have no clue how to respond to that whole absurd story, but... Mine is much blander, I guess. I'm also an only child and lived in the neighborhood for my entire life. I have a lot of friends, but if I had to choose a best friend, it would definitely be Kazuichi, for sure. Other than that, there aren't really any girls in this school who happen to be super close to me." 

"I think that the girls part was unnecessary," Nagito chuckled. "Is there anything else about you?" Hajime looked at him with confusion written on his face.

"Anything else?"

"You know, your hobbies and life at school, I guess. You seem like one of the cooler kids who get a lot of attention."

"Haha, very funny. To answer your question, I guess I would consider myself pretty social. I don't really have many hobbies, but I do like sports. Math can definitely be a pain in the ass sometimes, though. How about you?"

"Oh, well, I went to a lot of schools, but everything was pretty dull, in my opinion. People thought I was some strange hope fanboy and never wanted to be near me. I don't particularly have any big passions and hobbies either, though I do like to read. There isn't really anything else," he chuckled quietly. Hajime raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure? You look like one of the popular guys. Didn't you say you had a lot of friends or something?" he asked.

"Well, I mean, yeah, but that was like, only a few weeks ago. now, I'm stuck here."

After what had seemed like a long time, they made it to the drama room. Nagito's directions had been off by a lot because they took a lot of turns, and even went upstairs. Ms. Usami probably had the wrong classroom in mind. When he reached the door, he gave a small wave to Hajime before opening it quietly and disappearing into the room after a pause.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagito goes to drama class and meets somebody new.

Nagito was never interested in drama when he was younger. He always froze up in elementary school when it was his turn to read his lines, and when he finally got a word out, he ended up forgetting them. It was easy to say that Nagito was not talented whenever it came to public speaking or acting.

He knew somebody who was into this sort of thing. Although they weren't necessarily friends, he knew that she was very talented in this subject. Kotoko was one of Nagisa's best friends, who Nagito babysat before. She was definitely over the top and had a big attitude, but overall, she was still a fun person to be around.

What greeted him at the door was a man with messy green-dyed hair. He looked way too young to be a teacher. He wore a baggy striped shirt and with a unique design to it. Additionally, he wore many rings on the fingers of both of his hands. The older boy walked towards him and gave him a wave and a carefree smile.

"Hey there. Welcome to the drama room. The name's Mr. Amami, but most people call me by my first name, Rantaro." he said in a calm, soothing voice. "You must be Nagito, am I correct?" In response, he gave him a smile and a nod.

"Uh-huh, that's me."

"Okay, sweet. Anyway, what took you so long? Did you get lost?" Mr. Amami cocked his head to the side. After seeing Nagito's anxious expression, he let out a chuckle. "Oh, no worries. I'm not going to get you in trouble or anything. I know this is your first day, so it's alright. I think I have a right to know." He sounded friendly yet also stern.

_Well, since I'm not getting in trouble, I might as well tell him what happened earlier today._

"Oh. Well, to begin with, I wasn't given a schedule. It took a while for me to discuss that with the secretary. She didn't give me the right instructions, so I wound up in a random classroom. The teacher got one of his students to take me back." The teacher nodded and hummed as Nagito finished.

"I see. Well, you can find a seat in the room." He motioned to the array of chairs and desks. Straightening his posture, he walked around each table, peering over his new classmates for any available seats. Right when he was going to take a seat at an empty table, someone grabbed his arm and yanked him over to another table.

"Huh?-" he yelped before being pushed onto a chair. The one who shoved him grinned at his shock and confusion.

"Nee hee hee! Now, this is new! I finally get to sit with somebody!"

When Nagito finally got a good look at his attacker's face, he was shocked to see a boy with purple hair and a small frame. He wore a white hoodie that covered his hands and almost went down to his knees. He wore black jeans under it and had a black-and-white bandana wrapped loosely around his neck. He looked like a little kid in Nagito's opinion. The boy had lavender eyes that stared at him, a goofy smile plastered on his child-like face.

"Er, hello there," is all that Nagito said in response. The smaller boy released his tight grip around his arms and plopped down on the seat next to him. Nagito was sure he must have left a mark there. He pouted at him and poked his arm.

"You're supposed to tell me your name, you dumbo!" he whined. Nagito huffed a laugh in response before doing so.

"Sure. My name is N-" before he could say more, the other interrupted him.

"I think that I should introduce myself first, now that I think about it," he said in thought. Nagito had no idea what was up with this boy's odd behavior but smiled and let him continue.

"I am Kokichi Ouma! Your new Bestie! I can already tell, this must be fate!" he said rather excitedly. Nagito, still unsure what to say, raised an eyebrow and chuckled in response. It seemed that his boy was very energetic. He didn't particularly dislike it, though.

"Kokichi, what are we supposed to be doing right now?" he asked, lowering his voice and pointing to the teacher. Kokichi nodded eagerly.

"Well, you see, right now, Ranny over here is trying to teach us about showing emotional expressions while acting in front of others. Like trying to get us to learn different faces that show different emotions, so the audience knows how they feel and stuff. Do you get what I mean?" he turns to Nagito, who nods along to what he was explaining.

"Yeah. Thanks." He gave him a casual smile.

"Aw, why, of course, you're making me blush!" he said somewhat jokingly. "Oh yeah. I almost forgot! What's your name again?"

"My name is Nagito Komaeda."

"Ahh... I see!"

After their exchange, they both turn to Rantaro, still explaining and teaching the class about acting. Nagito hastily wrote down some notes using a pen he found inside his bag and a sticky note that he had taken in the backpack's front pocket. After shoving his notes back into his bag, the bell rang. Quickly lifting the bag over his shoulders, a voice called out to him.

"Nagitoo! You have to wait for me!" He turned to see Kokichi, still shoving some lined paper into his bag.

"What is it, Kokichi?" he asked.

"I just wanted to tell you! We're going to eat lunch together too!" Nagito hadn't expected the smaller boy to invite him to eat with him. Maybe that was what he needed right now. He was thinking of finding Ryoma, but being with Kokichi would be fun too. He had already made it clear that he wants to spend time with him, and who was he to refuse?

"Yes, I can eat with you, but is it even lunchtime yet? I thought it started later," Nagito said in confusion.

"Well, yeah! But still, meet up with me at the food court! Oh, this is going to be great. You get to meet everyone else too!" Before Nagito could even open his mouth to respond, Kokichi dashed out of the classroom, headed toward a room he did not recognize. Sighing, he took a look at his schedule for today.

 _Math. How exciting._ He thought to himself. Math was probably Nagito's least favorite subject out of each and everyone he had learned. He wasn't horrible at it but still had a strong disliking for it. The numbers, shapes, and different subjects were very hard to memorize sometimes.

Instead of skipping class by spending most of his time trying to find the right room, he went to Rantaro, who had given him better directions than Ms. Usami.

_"What's up, Nagito?"_

_"Hello. I was just wondering if you can tell me where the room for math is."_

_"Yeah, of course. It's..."_

After placing his things inside of his assigned locker, he found the classroom rather quickly. In math, he didn't bother talking to anybody, but something he knew for sure was that he was starving. He still had the money from home, so after the class was over, he'd probably buy some food before meeting with Kokichi. He paid attention to the teacher writing things down on the whiteboard. She had been talking cheerfully about algebra or something. Nagito hadn't remembered himself.

Miss Yukizome wore a white-colored dress-shirt and a teal blazer over it. She had a skirt that was the same teal color. Her long hair was back in a high ponytail, which looked like a brown-coral color. Miss Yukizome reminded him of a person from a video game- not a video game, more of a visual novel. She was a very kind teacher and had made the class much easier to understand the topics that she taught them and made the time fly by. It wasn't long before the bell had finally rung, signaling everyone that it was now lunchtime.

After putting his homework back into his back to work on at home, Nagito went to the lockers to put his other items away. He had already gotten used to this school a bit to know where to locate his locker, but other than that, he was still a lost puppy.

Nagito then saw a small group of students walking, so he decided to follow them. He assumed that they were going to the cafeteria, so he trailed behind them, giving them space. It turned out that he was correct. He quickly went inside to line up and wait for his food. The line was longer than expected, but that was understandable because of the large number of students that attended at Jabberwock. When he finally made it to the front, somebody was waiting for him.

He wore a simple chef outfit with a red apron. The man was short, maybe even smaller than Kokichi. His hair reminded him partly of Mondo's, his former acquaintance from Hope's Peak. When he saw him, the man brightened and smiled almost naughtily, already making Nagito uncomfortable.

"Why hello there," he smirked. "My name is Teruteru Hanamura, but you can call me whatever you want." Ignoring his flirtatious behavior, Nagito responded kindly to the man.

"Hi. Do you mind if I can get a hotdog and some fries?" Nagito asked, handing him the money that had been in his pocket.

"Why, of course, darling, anything for you," he said smoothly, taking away the money from him. He gave him a piece of paper and quickly went to work. "You may stand over there. I'll call your number when your meal has finished, I mean, unless you want to be my me-" Nagito interrupted him before he could finish his sentence.

"Okay, great. Thank you very much. I'll wait over here."

 _I think I found somebody already more dislikable than Ms. Usami,_ he thought to himself.

After he heard his order, he quickly grabbed the tray that lay on the counter in front of him and sped-walked out of the cafeteria before Teruteru had a chance to strike a conversation with him. He knew it was mean to ditch him, but he was getting on Nagito's nerves. When he had arrived at the door, there was a person he recognized waiting for him.

"There you are!" Kokichi squealed, jumping at him, almost causing him to spill all his fries. "Wow, you sure are a slowpoke, Nagito."

"Whoops, sorry. I didn't know the directions to the cafeteria, so I- Eh?" Kokichi grabbed Nagito's arm before he could finish, dragging him outside. This boy seriously had an iron grip.

"H-hey! where are we going?" Nagito asked, still trying to make sure none of his food fell on the floor. He was still hungry, and he wasn't going to have his money go to waste. Why were they even going outside anyway?

"We always eat outside, Nagito! Today you're coming too!" he responded quickly, still pulling on his arm. "There's an area with a bench outside. We have to be first! Otherwise, we need to sit on the floor! My butt hurts from sitting through science and french all day!"

Did Kokichi say _"We"?_ Before Nagito can ask him any more questions, Kokichi had finally let go of his arm. Sitting in front of him were a large group of students and a bench. This reminded him of his old school, and he smiled, but it disappeared when they looked at Kokichi, then back at Nagito, then back at Kokichi, then back at Nagito-

"Woah, how'd you find this mega hottie here?" a girl with long, strawberry blonde hair and goggles asked Kokichi. Nagito flushed slightly at her comment. She wore a hot pink shoulderless top with blue floral designs. The girl next to her smacked her arm, telling her to quiet down. Before she could argue back and get any words out, a boy interrupted her.

"Come on, you bastard. What did we say about dragging these fucking popular kids into our circle? We don't want them. They're always talking shit at everyone," a short boy who had been sitting on the bench groaned at him, anger and mistrust written on his face. He wore a black shirt with different patterns plastered over it. There was a label in front that read "Kuzuryuu" on it, which Nagito had recognized from somewhere. Kokichi tilted his head down. This guy sure was intimidating. Before he could continue his rant, somebody stopped him.

"Fuyuhiko. We shouldn't judge him from a first glance. That will only lead to more problems," A different girl with silver hair spoke, placing a hand on his shoulder. His eyes immediately softened at her touch, and he slumped back into his seat, sighing in defeat.

"Kokichi," A boy with black raven hair sighed and pinched his nose, clearly confused why he brought somebody they've never seen before to eat with them after their many reminders not to. He had a black hoodie, about the same size as Kokichi's. Nagito noticed how he also had long lashes like Rantaro. "What is the meaning of this?" after hearing the boy speak, Kokichi perked up.

" _Well_ , I was sitting alone in the drama room, as usual. Then, all of a sudden, I see this boy walking towards me down the classroom. That's when I knew that this was destiny! It was destiny that we'd meet each other! Right?!" he exclaimed happily, jumping on Nagito's back and wrapping his arms around him. Kokichi sure likes physical affection, it seemed. Thinking that it was probably best to explain what happened, he turned to the students and corrected his friend's story.

"Uhh, basically, I'm a new student here. I got lost and came to drama late, and went to sit down. Kokichi ended up dragging me to his seat and told me to eat with you guys at lunch," he explained, earning a small smack in the face from Kokichi. "If you want, I could leave and sit with Ryoma. We already talked on the bus and-" he was stopped by a boy who wore a purple jacket without one sleeve and a long white shirt with some spaceships and stars on it. The guy had a goatee, and his hair was also a purple color and looked like a huge mess.

 _Can somebody's hair even look like that?_ Dismissing the thought, he turned to face him.

"You talked to _the_ Ryoma Hoshi and sat with him on the bus?" he asked skeptically. Nagito slowly nodded. Everyone had their eyes on him, and he was getting a little nervous.

_Is this a bad thing or a good thing?_

The girl who had interrupted the other one in pink jumped up in shock. "Really?! Wow. He always reserves that seat whenever he's on the bus."

"Er, he just let me sit with him. We talked for the ride before he left," Nagito said, shrugging. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong! It's just that you need to be very close to Ryoma to sit with him. He usually sits with Gonta when he's on the bus. You need to be the nicest person on the planet to earn a seat with him. He would make you sit on the ground if there still wasn't any room," she said quickly. Kokichi spoke up after being silent for a little bit.

"So... Can he sit here? We just proved that he's a total sweetheart, didn't we?" He said in excitement, hopping off of Nagito. Nagito rolled his eyes. After sharing a few looks at each other, they agreed.

"Fine," sighed the blond-haired boy in black. Nagito heard that his name was Fuyuhiko. "If you pull any stunt on us, I'll push you right up to the gates of hell!" Nagito only mumbled an "Okay" in response. This guy was seriously reminding him of Mondo Owada. The vulgar language and attitude were immaculate.

Unsure of where to sit, he took a seat right to Kokichi. Next to him was a boy with spikey blonde hair. The boy's eyes were a baby blue. The blonde wore a turquoise t-shirt over his white longsleeved shirt and ripped baggy jeans. When Nagito turned to face him, he smiled.

"Hello. My name is Kiibo Idibashi," he greeted. "Nice to meet you!" He took his hand and shook it firmly. Nagito grinned at him and returned the greeting.

"I'm Nagito Komaeda. It's nice to meet you too."

"So, Nagito," Kiibo stated, a curious look spreading his features. "I would like to know a little more about you. Our friend group doesn't reach out to other people much, besides Kokichi, anyway. So! Why did you decide to attend to Jabberwock high?"

Nagito paused at the question. Why did he decide to go to this school? His mom never really had a reason when it came to moving to different schools. It just happens, and Nagito and his brother have no other choice than to listen to her. They didn't have any power to make her stop, anyway. He took a bite out of his hotdog and wiped his face with a napkin before answering.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. I grew up always moving from school after school. However, I'm still unsure about how long I'll be staying here. The longest time I stayed at the same school was for a whole year."

"Ah," Kiibo responded lamely. "Must be complicated, having to move a lot."

"Hah. Yeah," Nagito responded with the same energy, popping a fry into his mouth. He glanced around the group of people, trying to get a good look at every one. There were two who sat on the bench: Fuyuhiko and the silver-haired girl who was seated next to him. They were both in a deep conversation. Suddenly, he felt someone poking his arm. Not to his surprise, it was Kokichi.

"You're probably wondering who everyone is," he grinned. "Silverhead over there is Peko Pekoyama. You probably already know Mr. Shorty over there! That's Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu, the leader of a yakuza! Peko and Fuyuhiko are both childhood best friends. Aren't they adorable?!" he asked loudly. Peko and Fuyuhiko whipped their heads in their direction and sighed, before going back to their discussion. Nagito could've sworn their faces were tinted pink.

"You already know Keeboy, right? He's kind of like a robot, all monotone, and stuff. Not to mention, Keeboy's into technical stuff and robotics. He's a total brainiac. Like, super smart at everything," Kokichi pointed to Kiibo, who had overheard their conversation.

"H-hey! How rude!" he sputtered, cheeks turning red. Kokichi giggled at his weak argument and pointed to the boy with the insane spikey gelled hair and a girl with long, silky brown hair tied by two red scrunchies. She had a cherry red sleeved shirt with a front pocket at the chest area and wore brown colored sweatpants. They were both sitting on top of the purple jacket, one playing on their phone while the other watched. Kokichi lowered his voice a little before speaking.

"You see them over there? That space idiot is Kaito. That guy is totally into astrology and everything. He always talks about Star Wars and anything related to that. It gets boring when he talks about it too many times. Do you know the girl next to him? That's Maki. She's one of Kaito's closest friends, and Kaito is the only guy who can call her by a nickname. So, don't call her Maki Roll unless you want a death wish. She tried strangling me after I did it myself," He grinned. Kaito saw them looking at them and gave Nagito a big grin. "Hey, dude!"

 _Kokichi sure has guts to be doing things like that._ Nagito chuckled and waved in their direction. Maki looked up at him and gave him a look of acknowledgment before looking down at Kaito's phone, clearly interested in what he was playing.

"Er, does Maki dislike me or something? I wouldn't be surprised if she did, but..." Nagito asked nervously. The look she gave him seemed threatening. Kiibo let out a small laugh.

"Of course not. Maki rarely smiles, but she's usually like this. Once she's warmed up to you, she'll open up. Don't worry about it," the blonde showed a reassuring smile.

"If you insist."

"Cool. Anyway, we forgot about those ladies over there- Cum dumpster and Kayayday! Ka-"

"It's _Miu_ and _Kaede_ ," Kiibo sighed, placing his hand onto his forehead. Or, more specifically, Miu Iruma and Kaede Akamatsu."

Kokichi had all different sorts of names dedicated to each person in the group- Silverhead, Mr. Shorty, Keeboy, Space idiot- Er... Maki, and now Kayayday and Cum dumpster? Nagito had no clue how she'd end up with a nickname like that. The two girls stopped eating their food and looked at them. Kaede giggled, and Miu started stuttering at the name Kokichi gave her.

"C-c-cum Dumpster!?"

"As I was _saying_ , _Kaede_ is super talented at the piano. She's been doing concerts ever since she was a little kid! This lady's working on a special piece right now, but the title and the words are too fancy for me," he complained. "It's like Clear the lewd or something. Claires the dude?"

"Kokichi!" Kaede yelled in embarrassment. "It's Clair de Lune!"

"Oh, sorry," he replied in an innocent tone. Nagito and Kiibo both laughed at their exchange. Giggling, he continued.

"As you already know, that filthy skank over there is _Miu_. Despite her dumb looks, she's surprisingly smart. She's Keeboy's best friend, and they take robotics together! Together, these nerds are trying to create this huge robot for some kind of competition. She's dating Kaede too!" Kiibo rolled his eyes and threw his sandwich wrapper at Kokichi.

"Owie!! That hurt," Kokichi whimpered, before jumping up. "I almost forgot! I need to introduce you to one more guy!"

"Oh? Who is it?" As if on cue, the black-haired boy who he had noticed before suddenly turned in their direction. His eyes looked golden in the sunlight. He quietly laughed. "I think he's talking about me."

"Yup! My charming Shumai!" Kokichi leaned back and rested his head on his lap. "You should introduce yourself to my new bestie!" 'Shumai' flushed and smiled. He rolled his eyes at him before responding,

"Ah, um, my name is Shuichi Saihara. I like spending lots of my time reading inside and outside the library, and sometimes I volunteer to help stack books on the shelves in there as well. Er, I also like playing chess too? Oh yeah. I'm also a detective in training."

Nagito froze at his last words. _Shuichi? A detective in training?_ These words both sounded very familiar in the same sentence. He noticed the pieces of the puzzle suddenly connected. Wait a minute. Did he really find him on his first day here? This was Shuichi Saihara! Kyoko had talked about him before already. Immediately, Nagito spoke much louder than he expected to sound.

"Hold on a second, do you know Kyoko Kirigiri?!" he slapped his mouth before mumbling a small "sorry" when everyone looked at him, confusion written on each other's faces. The only two who weren't confused were Kokichi and Shuichi. Kokichi wore a grin on his face while Shuichi stared at him in excitement.

"Oh my god, you know Kyoko? She's one of my friends that I meet a lot! Did she tell you about me? What's your name again? I might know you too, she mentioned about somebody named-" Kokichi put his finger at his mouth, immediately shutting him up.

"Calm down, detective. Poor Cloudy can't answer all your questions if you ask too many! Nee hee hee!" He grinned.

_Cloudy, huh? That's a new nickname._

"So, that means you're Nagito Komaeda, right? I assumed so because Kyoko had already told me about you."

"That's right. I went to Hope's Peak for a month and became friends with them after a while."

"Only a month? You should tell me about that."

Shuichi and Nagito both talked back and forth for the rest of the period, Kiibo or Kokichi adding comments or asking questions occasionally. Shuichi was a nice guy. He was shy and awkward at some times, but when he's talking to someone close to him, or with somebody who had similar interests, he spoke with confidence and passion.

The bell suddenly rang, and Nagito stood up and thanked them. Kokichi gave him a hug and a childish grin before he left for his English class, disappearing down the hallway in a crowd.

_Wait... How am I supposed to get to English again?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kind of impressed. I wrote quite a bit in this chapter, but you can tell I get lazier by the end of the chapter, hahaha.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagito continues the rest of his day in his new school.

Finding a way to English wasn't as hard as Nagito thought it would be. It only took him about a few minutes or so. The bell had already rung, and he still did a surprisingly decent job at arriving at the right door anyway. After throwing his hotdog wrapper and a small cardboard box that carried his fries in a nearby garbage can, he entered the classroom. 

The room was quiet and mainly consisted of a bunch of students playing on their phones, and did not bother paying attention to the teacher who had been helping in front. The teacher had long pale pink hair that reached past her waist. She had casual clothing on- A cerulean blue and white jacket with an unknown symbol on the side of it. Nagito reluctantly walks inside and takes a seat at one of the desks.

"You must be new here," the woman says in a calm tone. "My name is Ms. Hagakure. I'm your English teacher. I assume that you are Nagito Komaeda. Instead, I'm going to call Nana."

_Er, Nana? That's quite the ridiculous name._

Surprisingly, no one laughed at him. They were too busy on their phones.Ms. Hagakure tells Nagito about what they were talking about beforehand, so he could get a good grasp of what he should be learning in this class in the future. After a quick explanation, she continues back to her lesson. As he wrote down his notes, he heard somebody whisper into his ear.

"Hey." the somewhat familiar voice gets Nagito's attention. He quickly whipped his head to hear where the source had come from, revealing Hajime Hinata. He had been so focused on the teacher and the lesson that he hadn't bothered paying attention to the one who sat next to him.

"Oh. Hi, Hajime, I hadn't realized that I was sitting next to you." Nagito sent him one brief smile before turning back to the teacher, who had still been talking about different conjunctions to use to extend sentences. He wrote down some more notes regarding the subject. Hajime, on the other hand, hadn't been doing anything at all. He was on his phone, scrolling on different apps and snapping pictures of himself. Nagito couldn't help but roll his eyes a little. He wasn't sure why Hajime had not written anything down. Sighing, he turned back to Ms. Hagakure.

After around ten minutes, she told them that they could take a break for about five minutes. Nagito stretched his sore arms and legs and yawned. Gee, today was a long day. All that he wanted to do was go home and sleep. Hajime stood next to him, awkwardly.

"So, how's Jabberwock treating you?" he asked, scratching the back of his head after a moment of silence. Nagito brushed the eraser marks on the paper he had been writing on. 

"Oh, so far, it's been pretty well. I'm gotten to know a few people, including you. Although I had quite a few troubles when it came to finding my classes, that's for sure," he replied, fiddling with his pencil and intertwining it between his fingers. 

"Well, that's good," Hajime said, typing something into his phone. "As long as you're in a group and stay in that group without bothering anyone else, you'd be safe." Nagito was confused because of Hajime's statement. 

_Safe?_

"Hajime, what do you mean?"

Instead of answering the question, he brushed it off, ignored him, and started up a different conversation. There wasn't any point in asking- He knew that Hajime wouldn't say anything else.

"Huh? It's nothing. Anyway, did you know that Rantaro, the Drama teacher, is one of the youngest teachers throughout the district?"

After some idle chatter and more writing, the pink-haired teacher suddenly hit the board with a ruler to get the class's attention.

"Okay, everybody. Look this way, please. This is important." 

Most of the class turned her way. 

"She doesn't usually use her ruler to get us listening. This is probably something important," Hajime murmured into Nagito's ear. Ignoring the sudden closeness, he sighed and rested his cheek onto the palm of his hand. Ms. Hagakure seemed like the type of person who would let them do whatever they wanted in class unless there was something serious happening.

"Okay. This marks the first day of our biggest projects that you will be working on throughout the school year. You and your partner will write a long story about both of your lives during the school year. Then, both of you will present it at the end of the year," She said uninformatively, standing up and placing down some handouts onto each desk in a swift manner.

_That was a quick and brief explanation for such a small project,_ Nagito smiled ruefully. Nagito wasn't the worst in English and would probably do well for this project. He was usually interested in literature and reading and had a lot of books at home. When Nagito was younger, he enjoyed writing stories to show his peers.

He picked up the piece of paper that lay on the table and scanned over it. There wasn't much on it- just a simple description and instructions on the first page. He flipped the page to read the second one, but again, there wasn't anything that important. All there was had been a lot of lines, presumably for writing.

A voice from the back of the room had suddenly called out to her to ask a question.

"E-Excuse me? Gonta have question." A loud yet soft voice had echoed in the room.

"Yes?" she asked, pausing from handing out the other sheets. 

"Gonta was wondering about the partners," he responded, playing with his long, wavy hair. This man looked intimidating but gentle and sweet at the same time. He had small circular glasses that fit his slim face.

"Good question. For this year's project, you're not choosing the partners. Instead, you're going to work with the person who is seated right next to you." 

Nagito's happy mood had faltered for a moment, but he perked up when he realized that the boy would be working with somebody he knew. Hajime was probably smart and could be very helpful for this project. Turning to the left, he saw Hajime still scrolling on his phone. He sighed and started jotting down some things that happened so far on his own.

After a few minutes passed, Hajime finally decided to help Nagito. They were supposed to write a little bit of it every single day but didn't have to if there wasn't anything that stuck out to them or anything significant. They spent the rest of their class time talking and writing different things, and in a matter of no time, the bell had already rung.

"Okay, guys, you're free to go to your last class of the day. Have fun," she said calmly with a wink. "Oh yeah. By the way, I recommend talking to your partner about it and possibly spending more time working on it." Nagito noticed that Hajime had already left the class.

_He's most likely talking with his friends. He is pretty popular, after all._

Earlier, when Nagito ate outside, he saw Hajime surrounded by a lot of people. Nagito would never want that much attention from that amount of people. It only caused trouble and havoc, which is why he was perfectly content with eating alone by himself. It wasn't that he hated other people, but because he didn't want to start drama if something problematic would happen.

Nagito walked outside the classroom, and just as he expected, Hajime was there, talking to a boy around his age. The boy wore a neon yellow windbreaker jacket and a pair of blue, ripped jeans. His hair was so long and bright pink that you wouldn't miss it if you were trying to look for him. This guy also had shark teeth, which Nagito thought was strange. There was a crowd around them again, so he slipped through the door quietly, trying to avoid the group.

_It must be hard to be popular._

Nagito sighed and walked down the hallway, different voices filling the air. Luckily, his locker was nearby. Before putting his stuff away, he tried remembering what his last class was for the day. After giving up, he reached for his backpack to pull out the slip of paper.

"Aw, isn't this great. I have P.E," he said sarcastically.

Nagito wasn't that good when it came to athletics. He was thin and spent lots of his time doing anything besides sports. He has only been in a fight, which had been with Nagisa's father, and he still struggled a lot when they did. Nagito still had bruises, scars, and marks from the incident that night. He hoped that they wouldn't be doing anything too exhausting today. Right now, all he wanted to do was sleep.

With tired enthusiasm, he closed his locker, wincing when he heard a loud clang. He looked around the hallway. Although there were fewer people than before, it was still busy out here. Small chunks of people were all engaged in their own conversations. Now he needed to find the gymnasium. Nagito didn't remember seeing it at all during his time here, so he ultimately decided to do what he had done before- idly walk everywhere until one- a teacher finds him. Two- he finds it himself, or lastly, option three- talk to another student about directions. 

"Nagito!" there was a strict and loud yell that echoed throughout the whole corridor. He turned around to see Kiibo running in his direction, his feet thumping against the hard floor. He almost forgot that he was in Jabberwock, but instead at Hope's Peak. Only Kiyotaka would yell so loud... Suddenly remembering where he was, he greeted him with a smile and a wave.

"Hello, Kiibo." the boy with light hair eagerly waved back at him.

"Hello, Nagito! I saw you wandering around in the halls. You seemed lost, so I'm here to help? Where are you going for the last class of today?"

Nagito sighed in relief. Kiibo could save him from being late, and it wouldn't be much trouble to ask because they already knew each other.

"Well, right now, I need to head to the gymnasium. Do you mind helping me get there?" Nagito asked politely. The boy next to him had suddenly lit up.

"You have P.E too! I'm glad. Everyone always seems to make fun of me whenever I'm there since none of my friends are in that class." Kiibo sighed and tilted his head down slightly before jumping up again, startling Nagito. "But I guess it will be fine, now that you're here!"

Nagito couldn't help but feel bad for him. Not because he pitied him, but because he could relate to him. He was continuously being called names and insults when he hadn't done anything to harm them. Sure, Nagito's nature was weird, but he never tried to do anything that would really hurt anyone deeply. He nodded and sent a small smile at the blonde.

"Yeah," is all that he said in reply.

There was a moment of comfortable silence before Nagito spoke up. "Hey, Kiibo? Do you mind telling me about yourself? You already asked me some questions when we were outside. I would like to know a little more about you."

Kiibo seemed delighted at the question. "Of course! Not many people ask me about that! My father was somebody who was into robotics for a long time. When I was born, I had also grown to love robotics."

"Ah, I see," Nagito mumbled, genuinely taking an interest in Kiibo's passion. _Robotic's... Kiibo, Miu, and Chihiro would get along very well._ "Does your dad happen to have any interests?"

"In fact, he does! Something else that my father had been studying for a while was artificial intelligence. He's currently working on a robot with an A.I. function in it. It's like a robotic dog! Isn't that cool? I'm also starting to learn a little bit more about it, though I'm much more interested in making robots. I should show you some next time!"

"That would be wonderful," Nagito grinned. 

_Chihiro should definitely meet Kiibo. They'd most likely get along really well._

"Also, Miu helps me in robotics too. She's invented so many remarkable things- from mechanical items that help you sleep to eyedrops that change your eye colour. Would you like to try one?" Kiibo pulled a small eyedropper bottle out of his jean pocket and showed it to his face.

"Er... No, but thank you," Nagito replied. He'd rather have his dull greyish green colour for his eyes instead of bright pink ones. "Have you ever used this eyedropper before?"

"Well, of course, I have! I was the first one to ever try it!" he said triumphantly, placing the small bottle back into his pocket. "Here, look into my eyes." He leaned close to Nagito, having to use his tippy toes because he was shorter. The closer Nagito looked, the more he had realized how bright his icy blue eyes really were. 

"Yeah, it seems that Miu's inventions work very well. What other ones does she have?"

Kiibo rambled on, clearly enthusiastic about robotics and Miu. Sometimes, Nagito would interrupt Kiibo's speeches when he paused to ask him some questions. They had totally forgotten that they were going to the gym, and it took them forever for them to finally realize that they made it to the door. They both walked inside.

"Hi-ya!!!" as soon as the door closed, a figure flew right at them before planting their feet on the ground, only less than a few feet away. Nagito instinctively hid behind Kiibo, who only stood there, unmoving. 

"Hello, Chabashira," he smiled. Nagito hopped out of his "hiding place" to meet her. She had an Adidas jacket on, which consisted of the colours swamp-green and grey-blue. There was something that looked like a flower or a bow that rested at the back of her head. It had a couple of floral designs on it. There are two white ribbons tied around her dark brown hair that had a green tint to it. There was a purplish headband that the young woman had, and a choker with the same colour.

"What are you staring at, degenerate male!?" she yelled, causing Nagito to flinch a little. This girl was someone who he shouldn't be messing with. He was about to say something before Kiibo answered for him.

"Nagito is a new student here! He was lost, so I took him here," he said with a gleam. Chabashira's mouth made an "O" shape before shooing Kiibo away, so she could talk to him.

"Whoops, I didn't realize that there would be a new student," she said, twiddling her fingers. "I am Tenko Chabashira, your gym teacher for awhile! You can call me Tenko or Coach Chabashira! You better work as hard as you can, so you can no longer be labelled as a degenerate," she said with confidence.

"Hi there, Tenko," Nagito replied. "What are we supposed to be working on right now?"

"Actually, I'm going to split the class up into two different teams for some ball hockey! You can go over on that team with Kiibo." She pointed to the left side of the room, where a few students were practicing with the leftover pucks and sticks. Nagito went to them and motioned Kiibo to come in his direction. 

After Tenko taught everyone the basic rules, everybody spent the rest of their time playing a game of ball hockey before their class had ended. Nagito had done surprisingly good today- launching a puck into the net from a very far distance. Though his legs were tired and were practically out of breath. Nagito's team had lost by a small amount. In the end, the score had been six to eight. Kiibo staggered and stumbled quickly to him, sweat dripping from his forehead. In his hand, he held two towels.

"...Wow! That... wore me out... entirely!" 

Nagito could barely say anything, so he only nodded and made a noise of acknowledgement. Kiibo held the second towel to him and gratefully took it, inaudibly saying thank you in response. He dug into his backpack to pull out his water bottle that had been in there since the morning. He took a quick sip before standing up and handing his towel to Tenko.

"Thank you, Nagito and Kiibo! For some degenerate males, you did quite well!" she exclaimed. They muttered a thank you before exiting the room. As soon as the door closed, Kiibo gave him an excited smile, turning in the direction down the hallway.

"Goodbye, Nagito, I'll see you tomorrow! I need to go right now since the robotics club, you know?" He didn't have any time to respond to Kiibo before he sprinted down the packed hallway. With rest being the only thing on his mind, he walked out the doors in front of the school and booked it, forgetting that he was late for the bus. Nagito then saw Ryoma standing in the back of a line. He quickly jogged toward him.

"Hi... Ryoma. Sorry... I'm late." Nagito panted, feeling lightheaded. His legs felt weak from running for a long time. Ryoma only smiled in amusement. 

"Don't worry about it. The bus driver is the one who's late."

"The bus driver? Yasuhiro?" as soon as those words left his mouth, the bus had come into the parking lot and quickly stopped. Nagito couldn't help but stifle a laugh. He sort of expected something like this would happen, especially from Hiro. When both of them reached the front, the bus driver waved at Nagito. 

"Hey, Nagito! What's up, my guy? How was school?"

"It was pretty good for my first day," Nagito answered honestly. It really had been. He already made a few friends, and for the most part, the teachers and staff were also kind and were helpful. Though he certainly still missed Hope's Peak, he was already having a decent time at Jabberwock.

"Hey, that's good to hear, man! Anyway, take a seat!" Nodding, he walked to the back of the bus and took a seat next to Ryoma again, for the second time today. They had talked for the whole ride before each of their stops had come in a matter of minutes. Before Nagito left, he asked Ryoma a question.

"Am I allowed to sit with you from now on?" he asked. "I enjoy talking to you on here. Of course, if you don't want to sit with somebody like me-" he stopped himself. Now wasn't time for self-deprecating. Ryoma answered his question after a few seconds.

"Sure, I don't see why not. You were one of the only ones who can really understand me," Ryoma returned, re-adjusting his beanie. "With that, I'll see you tomorrow. He waved his small hand in the air, walking away and not looking back. Nagito smiled, quite happy with his answer. That was when he thought that would be a great time to return to his new house to take a long nap.

It was about four o'clock, so it would probably be best to walk back home. When Nagito slung his backpack over his shoulder again, he began walking in the direction he remembered coming from in the morning. He idly kicked a few stones that stayed on the sidewalk. He felt like he was going to collapse to his knees from exhaustion. Nagito skipped two steps before swinging the front door.

Nagisa lay on his stomach on the carpet, eyes focused on the book he was reading. When Nagito crouched down to him, he suddenly realized his presence and snapped the book shut. His look of confusion slowly dissolved and changed into a look of intrigue and curiosity.

"Hello, Nagito," the younger boy greeted. "How was school today?" he asked, arranging himself into a sitting position. Nagito sat next to him and sighed in exhaustion.

"To be honest, Jabberwock wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. I had some trouble with finding my way to the classrooms, and now I feel totally drained from P.E but, besides that, there hadn't been anything particularly dislikeable about it," Nagito admitted, shrugging. Nagisa nodded. "How about you, Nagisa?"

"Let me think," the brother replied thoughtfully. "There wasn't anything extraordinary there. It had reminded me of a bit of the other school we went to. The lessons and teachers acted similarly and got very monotonous instantly. I did make a few acquaintances, though. It was a group of three kids, and they were all very welcoming."

"Those sound like new friends more than acquaintances, Nagisa."

"Hey! No, they aren't! We all share a professional relationship at school!"

After some bickering and talking, they both settled on the couch to watch a movie or two before their mom would come back. Two hours had flown by after the movie, so the two brothers worked together to make themselves some dinner. In the end, they decided on making some macaroni and cheese. After finishing their homemade dish and washing everything in the sink, Nagito went to his room to do his homework.

He thought that it would be a good idea to finish writing the first page of the English homework which had been given to him. Nagito worked on all of his math homework too. The boy topped everything off with his Drama homework. He carefully slid the paper into the binder that hid in his backpack. He glanced at the small clock in his room. It was already nine, and he was absolutely craving for his bed. He fell and tripped over an item and fell onto the bed. As soon as his body hit the mattress, sleep had taken over his body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heh. uh, this was kind of like a filler chapter in a way? don't worry though, some shi might go down in the next chapter... jk!
> 
> unless?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next day of school happens, and Nagito meets someone new.

The next day, Nagito got up, energetically and swiftly. He felt excited for his second day of school since the first one had gone very well. Nagito wanted to meet Ryoma and Kokichi soon, so he hopped out of bed earlier than he usually would. He threw on some black jeans and a clean grey windbreaker. He put on a plain white tee and left the room, dragging his backpack on the ground with him.

He sauntered his way to the kitchen to make himself breakfast because he wasn't able to make it yesterday. At first, he wasn't sure what he desired to have, but in the end, he thought that sunny-side-up eggs would be the most efficient and effortless breakfast for Nagito to make himself. It was his "Go-To" meal, and he made it very often. There was plenty of time anyway; he needed to arrive at the bus at least half an hour from now.

The first thing he did was open up the steel fridge and pull out the carton of eggs before setting it down onto the counter. Opening the container, he plucked out one egg and dropped it gently into a small bowl nearby. He started up the stove and begun gathering the tools that he required to make his breakfast. He twisted the knob and waited a bit for the pan to heat up before cracking two eggs into it. 

It took around five minutes at most for him to complete his meal. In that minimal period, he made some toast to go along with it. He grabbed a plate and slid the egg onto it, and then picked up the bread, dropping it right on top of the plate and overlapped the perfect shaped egg. He pulled on the drawer handle in front of him and took out a fork, walked to the table and brought the whole meal with him.

While he was eating, he pulled his phone out of his pocket to face time Makoto for a while before he went to school. Nagito wasn't sure if he was sleeping or not but decided to give it ago. He had forgotten to text him yesterday after falling asleep past eight. He went through his contacts until his eyes lay on Makoto's and tapped on the screen quickly.

The phone was silent for a few rings until Makoto had finally responded to the call. When his screen showed up, Nagito could immediately tell that he just got up from his bed. His eyes were half-lidded, and Nagito heard a yawn, laced with drowsiness. However, despite that, he still lit up when he saw him.

"Hey Nagito," Makoto smiled sheepishly. Even though it had barely been a week, it felt like it was years that Nagito last saw him, and he couldn't help contain the grin that was spreading across his face.

"Hello, Makoto. I just wanted to tell you that I found the boy that Kyoko was close to yesterday. His name is Shuichi, and he's very kind." The other boy on the other boy stared at him in confusion before Makoto smacked his forehead with his hand in realization.

"Oh my god, right. You had school yesterday. Goodness, me, I'm way too tired for this conversation," he said tiredly with a laugh. "No worries, I don't mind. Why are you up so early?" 

"I'm getting ready for school, but I got up a little earlier than I regularly do," he mumbled, chewing his food vigorously. He was much hungrier than he usually was. "I ended sleeping at eight, or somewhere around that time."

"Wow, that is early. What was this about Shuichi again?"

They both chatted for a while until Nagito had finished all of his food. He brought everything to the sink and dumped the dish into it. After doing so, the boy turned back to his phone.

"Well, it was nice catching up," Nagito smiled to Makoto, who was getting ready on the other side of the screen. "However, I'm running kind of late. You know Yasuhiro, correct?"

"Wait, H-Hiro?! Yeah, of course, I do!" Makoto exclaimed. "What about him?"

"Yasuhiro Is my bus driver. He's pretty eccentric." He let out a laugh. 

_ Eccentric was an understatement _ . 

"Well, I guess that explains his tardiness much better then. I mean, I knew that he was a bus driver, but never expected him to drive a bus at  _ your  _ school! Anyway, I think that it's time for you to get ready for school. I'll talk to you later, Nagito!"

"Of course. See you later."

Nagito pulled up his red sneakers lazily and hoisted his backpack up onto his shoulders. Despite being excited about school, it was clear that he was still tired. He ran out of the door and made sure that it was closed tight behind him. 

_ I shouldn't be loud,  _ Nagito sighed.  _ Both Nagisa and my mother would snap at me.  _

He walked along the sidewalk, jumping over each of the lines in the concrete. Nagito remembered doing something as childish as this when he was younger, but no one was around at the moment. Besides, it wouldn't bother him either way if anyone were watching. He had already been humiliated by every person he met.

About five minutes later, Nagito made it to the bus station. There were smalls groups of people talking while the bus stayed still. When he looked around, he realized that Ryoma wasn't there today. He assumed that he was inside. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the bus's doors. Yasuhiro was sitting in his seat, his legs propped up onto the wheel. It took a second for Nagito to realize that he was sleeping. He gave the crazy-haired man a tap on the shoulder, causing him to jolt.

"EAUGH!" he yelled, almost falling out of his chair. The exotic scream echoed throughout the bus, and a few startled glances and concerned faces came their way. Nagito smiled at his expense before greeting him. 

"Good morning, Yasuhiro. I assume that your day is going well?" upon hearing that voice, the bus drivers brightened. 

"Yo! Nagito, right? What's up, man? I'm doing awesome right now!" he replied happily, totally disregarding what had happened earlier. "Also, call me Hiro!"

"Sure," he replied. The older boy jumped from where he was sitting and walked over outside. Nagito stared at him in confusion. 

"Come on, find a seat! I'm going to yell at the others to come inside!" he announced as if reading his thoughts. After that short exchange, he walked his way to the back of the bus. There weren't as many students as yesterday, probably because he arrived early, or the rest of the students stayed outside. Yesterday he came later after realizing that school started much sooner before Hope's Peak had.

Ryoma was sitting with somebody else who Nagito had seen before. Gonta sat by the window seat while Ryoma sat next to the aisle. Though Nagito had wanted to sit next to Ryoma, he didn't particularly mind. 

"Hello, Ryoma," He greeted. "Wonderful seeing you here!" The smaller man looked up at him, his resting face seeping into a frown. 

"Oh, good morning, Nagito. I'm sorry. Gonta insisted that I sit with him on the bus today, but you can sit with me on the way back home. I decided to sit here instead of by the window because there was an empty seat right over there." Ryoma pointed to

He asked the boy who sat across from him. The latter looked like he was sleeping, his neck craned forward. 

_ Jeez, that neck is going to be sore. Maybe I should help this guy out.  _ Nagito walked closer to him and tapped his shoulder lightly, trying not to disturb him too much. In an instant, the boy flinched, startled from Nagito's appearance. When he got a closer look, he realized it was Shuichi. 

"Oh, hello, Shuichi," Nagito smiled awkwardly. "Sorry for waking you. I was wondering if I could sit right next to you today. Well, if no one is taking your seat, that is." The other nodded after regaining his composure.

"Hi, Nagito. Nobody's sitting here right now, so go ahead and take a seat," He said finally. "Sorry for falling asleep there. I've not been able to get any sleep recently. Studying and stuff, you know?"

"That's understandable," Nagito said aloud. "You can sleep, and I'll wake you up if you'd like. Oh, also, be careful with your neck. Use a jacket for a pillow or something." He wasn't sure if saying these kinds of motherly things would come off as weird, but Shuichi didn't comment on it. The raven-haired boy only mumbled something unintelligible and fell back into the chair. His eyes fluttered for a moment before he fell into a deep sleep. 

Hiro suddenly came inside the bus once again. A crowd of other students followed suit, all finding an empty seat to sit on. Not long afterwards, the bus finally started up, taking them to the school.

The ride there was fun for Nagito. While Shuichi slept on his shoulder, he had a splendid conversation with Ryoma, and Gonta occasionally interfered, adding small remarks and talking about different insects that he'd caught before. It wasn't long before the bus pulled up to the school, and the bust went to a sudden halt, signalling for everyone to leave.

Nagitp gently nudged Shuichi's arm, and he woke up quickly before looking at his shoulder. There was a small puddle drool on his windbreaker. Shuichi flushed at this and immediately started yelling in embarrassment.

"O-Oh my god! I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, I-" Nagito shrugged it off carelessly. "U-Uh, u-um, I have a handkerchief here. You can go ahead and use it. It's the least I can do..."

"Uh, yeah. Of course," Nagito answered stiffly. The tension was thick and nervewracking. After a long minute of silence, Nagito and Shuichi walked out of the bus, them being the last ones to leave. Hiro was playing on his phone but looked up and waved goodbye to them. 

"See you later, Nagito! Oh. And Shuichi as well!" he yelled. "I'll tell Makoto you said hi!" As soon as he spoke, he closed the bus doors and started up the vehicle before he could respond. The bus swerved and sped away, looking similar to the cartoons. Nagito walked toward the entrance, and Shuichi followed behind him.

"Do you know the bus driver?" Shuichi asked after walking in silence. They were both still outside the school, about to walk into the entrance. The school wouldn't start until around five minutes, so they had some time to talk for a bit. Nagito nodded.

"You know Kirigiri, right? Yasuhiro also goes to Hope's Peak," he replied quickly. "They're in the same class, I think. Anyway, you should ask her about it when you two have the time."

"Ah," Shuichi rubbed his chin in curiosity but didn't get another word out when they heard a loud recognizable voice from behind them.

"Heyy! Aren't you two forgetting about someone? Are both my beloved and Bestie already here?!" Kokichi popped up right in front of them unexpectedly. Nagito flinched a bit from the gesture, while Shuichi stood there, unmoved. 

_ Shuichi is probably used to this or something because that truly scared me. _

"Good morning Kokichi," the boys both said in unison. "How are you?" Nagito added. Kokichi stood in between them and continued walking with them down the hallway, to nowhere specifically. 

"Oh, I'm doing amazing, Cloudy! Thank you for asking!" he replied happily. Kokichi pulled a can of soda out of his backpack. "I got some Panta. Want some?"

"No thanks," Nagito replied, a small smile appearing on his face.

While strolling down past the lockers, Nagito could see that Saihara stopped for a swift second, then walking at a much faster pace. He even saw Kokichi look behind them for a brief moment before pretending nothing happened. All of a sudden, Nagito heard his name by someone he didn't recognize.

"Hey, you. You're Nagito Komaeda, correct?" a soft voice echoed in the hallway. He whipped his head to the source and saw a group of girls all huddled up around one girl. She had short, pink hair, and her eyes shone like pink diamonds. She wore a long baggy turquoise track jacket along with a white crop top. Her shoes were white, and she wore some tanned coloured shorts. In short- she looked both cute, charming and pretty. He had no clue who she was and how she knew his name. Kokichi and Shuichi stood there silently as he puzzledly approached her. 

"Hello," Nagito said, though it came out as a mumble. "Can I help you?" Instead of replying, the girl walked closer to him, taking up some of his space. He instinctively took one small step back. He tried again. "Can I at least ask for your name? I don't recall meeting you." She ignored him and walked even closer to him, with an expression on her face. 

_ I'm starting to get uncomfortable quickly,  _ he thought.  _ Was this girl angry? Hurt? Upset? But why? What did he do?  _ It was there where he shoved him unexpectedly back a bit, causing him to stumble backwards into the locker.

"Listen here, Mr. Komaeda," she threatened quietly. Her soft voice would've sounded like a mother singing a lullaby, but the intent made him feel like he was going to get stabbed by a knife. "I've been told by a little birdie that you attempted to take my boyfriend." She stared deeply into Nagito's eyes and didn't break composure. Nagito found it amusing that she needed to look up to do so. 

"I have no idea who you're talking about," he shrugged nonchalantly. The people around him stared and gaped at him in shock, but he was too busy staring at the girl who stood in front of him. "Who is your boyfriend again? I seriously am confused, so it would be nice if you could spell it out for me." He tensely chuckled. However, the pink-haired student did not like his attitude toward the situation one bit.

"Don't bother playing dumb," she said coldly. "Leave your hands off of Hajime."

It took a few seconds for Nagito to process what she had said. _ Hajime had a girlfriend?  _ He was sure that Hinata specifically stated not having many relationships other than Kazuichi Soda. He sighed to himself. He'd been lied to, but why?

"I think that I have the right to talk to him as I please, especially if we're both working together on an important project," he spoke coolly. "By the way, I was not trying to take your lover from you. We are merely friends, so please, leave me alone."

"You're lying," she said, irritation starting to run through her veins. "You're going to try to get with Hajime, aren't you? I won't let you. We will be together. No matter what. For our sakes!"

"For his sake..." she whispered to herself. Nagito sighed and put a hand to his head, clearly frustrated with her.

"I don't intend on getting in the way of your relationship at all, and that's final. Be together, or whatever you'd desire. It is not my business. However, I will still be talking to Hajime since he's my-" He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence as he got pushed upon a locker. The smaller student had a tight grip on him. Her expression was now furious. 

"How many times do I have to get this message into your head already? I told you to stay away!" once more, Nagito only sighed in response, looking down at the ground.

"Jeez," You're hopeless." he shook his head in disappointment. All of a sudden, a loud sound occurred, and he felt mild pain when he touched his cheek. The spot was reddening quickly and was visible on his pale skin. 

_ Did she just slap...?  _ He turned to the one who hit him. She faltered for a second before regaining her serious composure. The girl still had her arms pinned up against the locker. Before he could even realize what he was doing, he pushed her back by reflex. She tumbled and would've fallen to the ground if it wasn't for the girls who stood nearby who had caught her. He suddenly felt regret for shoving her and stared at her with wide eyes. Nagito tried to calm himself, but it was easy to tell that he was still frightened.

"I'm so sorry for hitting you, but you need to leave me alone. You're getting on my nerves. Please do not force yourself upon me and say such things about me and Hajime's 'relationship.'" Nagito stiffly pulled out his phone to check the time. "I need to get ready for class now. Goodbye." 

He rushed over to Kokichi and Shuichi while the other girls whispered to her. Shuichi had a bewildered and shocked expression on his face while Kokichi, on the other hand, had a big grin on his. 

"N-Nagito! How were you able to do that?!" Shuichi squeaked. The white-haired boy looked at him in confusion.

"I only told her the truth and what was on my mind," he replied simply. "She was quite... Stubborn, but something was intriguing about her." 

"You do realize... She's one of the most popular students in Jabberwock! Your rep can go down in a flash by her!" he exclaimed in shock. "Her group of friends can spread information about you, whether it be true or false." Kokichi piped up, joining in on the conversation.

"Wow, Cloudy! I didn't expect that from you!" he squealed in excitement. "Nobody ever stands up to her like that, or you end up... Well, let's just say the result isn't well." he giggled like a child.

_ Why was every person from Jabberwock so vague? I feel like there was something much more different to find out. Right now, I'm only scratching the surface of this. _

Something that Nagito found odd was the fact that he hit her. He had never done anything like that before and even took himself by surprise. Nagito always let others pick on him, even when they talked about Makoto. Then how come he got upset over someone like Hajime?  _ What is this feeling?  _ He wondered. Kokichi began clapping his hands in front of his face, snapping him out of his monologue.

"Hello, Cloudy? Are you listening?" Nagito looked down at the purple-haired boy, with a confused lopsided frown. "Jeez, you like to do that a lot."

"Oh. Sorry," Nagito apologized guiltily. Seemingly pleased by the apology, his face beforehand contorted into a big smile. 

"Of course, I forgive you, silly! You put that girl in her place!" Before Kokichi could say more, the bell rang. He turned to Shuichi, who was still listening to their conversation, mouth slightly agape while staring at Nagito. He closed it shut when he noticed. "Well, there's the bell! What do you say that we go to our classroom, eh?" 

Nagito nodded. "Okay, sounds good." He tightened his grip on his backpack straps and walked a little faster. Kokichi turned to Shuichi and gave him a bone-crushing hug.

"Bye Bye, Shumai! I'll see you later~" he smirked and walked away while the other boy waved back with a somewhat flushed face. Kokichi made his way to Nagito and jumped on his back, which was the last thing he needed today. Instead of telling him to get off, he merely sighed and continued walking. His back still felt insignificantly sore, but there was still a lingering pain to it. 

"I'm Kokichi Ouma!  _ I  _ am the king!" he yelled loudly, sitting atop Nagito's bag. Many people turned their way and rolled their eyes at the boy's immature personality though Nagito didn't particularly mind. Soon enough, they reached the classroom, and Kokichi slapped the top of the door. He jumped off of Nagito's aching back and pulled him inside.

The rest of the day for Nagito went very smoothly. The lesson felt much shorter than usual, probably because both boys were joking around and laughing the majority of the time. It's been a while since he had laughed like this. Nagito genuinely had a great time with Kokichi. The smaller boy did continuous pranks on Rantaro, and surprisingly, he didn't mind. The avocado haired boy mentioned how Kokichi did this regularly.

Soon, the bell rang, and Kokichi told him to meet him at lunch. Nagito happily agreed to his request and made it to his math class. Ms. Yukizome greeted him gleefully, telling him to take a seat. Her kind spirit is what kept him so energized and focused on his work, and in a matter of no time, the class had already ended.

As soon as the lesson concluded, she waved goodbye to him before he went to the cafeteria. Teruteru was there behind the counter, and Nagito tried to order his food as soon as he could. That man had questionable quirks. The chef kept complimenting him, and Nagito simply brushed them off. He made his way outside and found Kokichi waiting by the doors. 

"Hello, Cloudbrain!" he exclaimed. "Boy, aren't I happy to see you! Can I have some fries- pretty please?"

Just like yesterday, Nagito got dragged to the bench again, and this time everyone was much more comfortable than yesterday. He was able to hold up many conversations. Kokichi or Shuichi didn't bring up what happened earlier in the morning, even though Nagito thought they would have. Miu became closer to Nagito as well, as they both discussed Chihiro Fujisaki, a talented programmer. The blond-haired girl told him that the programmer better comes over to Jabberwock to visit, and Kiibo agreed. 

After a discussion about robotics, and many complaints from Kokichi, lunch ended, and Nagito walked his way to history. However, he felt the urge to use the bathroom and walked in that direction instead. Kaito had given him brief but useful information about the school and where each of the classrooms was. Nagito thought that all was going well until he reached the bathroom.

Out of nowhere, he felt a tug on his jacket sleeve. He merely ignored the gesture, but it happened again, causing him to turn around. There was Hajime, who still had a grip on his sleeve, while his free hand clenched into a fist. His expression was one that Nagito had never seen before. His eyes were narrow and bore into his soul, and his face looked slightly red as if it was on the urge of exploding. Though he was mildly surprised to find him here, let alone looking like a steaming train. He knew that this topic was probably about his girlfriend, the one who told him to stay away.

"Hello, Hajime," Nagito said calmly, unmoving. "Do you need anything?"

"Why did you push her?"

"Huh? I need you to be more specific, Hinata."

"Don't even try to act all clueless, Nagito," Hajime growled. "Chiaki told me that you pushed her. I don't let anyone get away from hitting her. Now explain to me- why did you do that?!"

_ Ah, so Chiaki's her name.  _

"Oh, you mean your girlfriend. My apologies. Nobody ever mentioned her name to me. Well,  _ Chiaki  _ assumed that I wanted to get into a relationship with you, which was entirely not the case. I tried to tell her, but she was too stubborn to listen."

Hajime laughed dryly at Nagito's defence. 

"Seriously?! That's your reason? For shoving my girlfriend? God, you're stupid if you think I'm going to let you get away with this."

"Let me get this straight. Chiaki had pushed me into the lockers, and I simply returned the movement because I was uncomfortable. She kept arguing over things that were not even true, to begin with." Nagito was going to say more, but one look at his face showed that he hadn't bothered to listen to his reasoning.

"You're kidding me, right? God, you're so fucking stupid! You don't understand at all! How dare you lay your hands on my partner?!" 

"I said, I-"

"No! You listen to me, Nagito-"

"Now, hold on a second."

Nagito tried many times to calm both himself and Hajime down, but he wouldn't listen, only triggering him even more. Hinata kept talking about how he had been the one at fault when it was not. Finally, Nagito snapped at him, clearly enraged at how Hajime had been taking this.

"I should've known that I shouldn't have met such an unreasonable, infuriating jackass like you. I've been trying so hard to reason with you, and all that you do is ignore it, always defending your lover without looking at the other side. I pushed her because she was getting too close. Please shut up, and leave me be, you talentless scum. You two probably only date for popularity and fortune." He hadn't processed the words before they came out of his mouth. In a panic, he ran straight out the door before yelling, "I'm going to English class now!" Ignoring Hajimes yells of anger, he left the room.

He thought that would be the plan until he looked behind him to find Hajime following him. Nagito knew he wasn't physically fit and contemplated what to do in this situation. He suddenly spotted a door that leads into an empty classroom. Quickening his pace, he ran inside. He realized that there were not any locks and used his body to block the door, convinced that the other boy would show up very soon. His intuition was indeed correct. There were a couple of bangs on the door before the knob turned. Nagito had to push with all his might to keep the door from opening, but with all that, Hajime was still able to get it opened.

"What do you want now?" Nagito snarled. This boy was getting more bothersome to deal with the more and more they talked. Nagito was kneeled on the floor and didn't get the chance to move when Hajime pulled him up to his eye level, his hands gripping his grey jacket.

"I want an actual valid explanation!" he yelled in Nagito's face. Nagito glanced at a nearby door that was on the other side of the classroom. He faced Hajime again, a scowl written on his face. 

"I explained the reason I did so many times. What is there  _ not  _ to understand! Stop being naive!" he somehow managed to squirm out of his grasp before reaching the other door, which was luckily open. He kept sprinting in the same direction until he bumped into something. At first, he thought it was a wall, but when he got a closer look, he realized he was wrong.

_ Shit.  _ There before Nagito stood Kazuichi and Chiaki, who both looked extremely agitated. Two other girls were with Chiaki before- one with purple hair and a pink blouse, and another girl with blonde, long hair, and similar eyes to his own. They both were present as well, glaring at him intensely. Beside them were a bunch of other people, who all looked oddly similar in a way, but he didn't question it. He had a feeling like he knew what was going to happen to himself.

"God, why don't you two leave me alone?" he groaned. "I don't recall doing anything that horrific to you guys to send these people at me."

"Shut up already," Hajime said between breaths. He looked exhausted and angry. "Guys. Teach him a lesson."

One person socked Nagito right in the face, injuring his right cheek. He winced in pain but didn't do anything about it. Nagito lay there, exhaustion and pain overflowing his body. Soon after, there was another punch. A slap. Some kicks. Grabbed and shoved into unidentifiable objects. His vision kept on fading in and out, and could barely see. Everything hurt for him. He looked back at Chiaki and Hajime, who smirked.

However, Nagito saw something in Hajime's eyes. He couldn't identify what it was. It was similar to what he saw in Chiaki's eyes earlier. But as soon as he saw it, it suddenly went away, and he grabbed his lover before pulling her into a messy kiss. If Nagito had the urge and strength to roll his eyes, he definitely would have taken the chance. Instead, he crumpled himself into a ball until the hitting stopped. He suddenly saw someone up in his face.

Chiaki had that same gaze as she did in the morning- threatening and malice incorporated together. She grabbed his face and turned it upwards, so he faced her. Nagito was all bruised up, and it was easy to tell. Chiaki leaned close to Nagito and whispered in his ear.

"Don't you dare try to interfere with our relationship," she threatened. "Or else, you won't like it. You better not come up to me without knowing your place. Hajime wants to be at the top, and I will do whatever I can for him." Nagito was too confused to process the words before she suddenly let go of him, causing him to hit the floor once more. She took one glance at him once more before leaving with the two friends who were with her. Soon enough, Nagito lost consciousness, and Kazuichi took it as his cue to leave.

Kazuichi walked in their direction and followed the three ladies, but stopped when he realized Hajime was still there.

"Come on, man! Let's ditch," he said.

Hajime's eyes lingered on Nagito for a second, and for some reason felt the urge to object. Whatever mood he was in clearly dissipated now, and he was left confused. However, he sighed and began walking in his direction.

"Alright, Alright. Let's go."

\-------------------------

The boy walked down the hallway, planning his next sinister prank for French. He needed to get to the Janitor's closet, which must have been closeby. He planned on doing the classic "Putting a bucket of water on the door" prank.

Kokichi hummed and whistled down the hallway. He snuck out of the classroom without anyone noticing him. He knew that he needed to get this bucket fast before the teachers went on a wild pursuit. Kokichi fastened his pace but came to a halt, stumbling upon something he didn't expect to see.

"...Cloudy?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg im so sorry for not updating this. ik its short, ill try harder to make the next chapter interesting lol. ill probably update this chapter and add a bit more to it possibly.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagito receives text messages.

Nagito slowly awoke to the sounds of muffled footsteps. A few minutes passed until he was able to adjust to the new, unfamiliar lighting. Everything part of his body felt sore, from head to toe. His back arched in pain, and he felt his right cheek swell. Nagito's arms felt weak, while his legs felt like the aftermath of running a marathon.

Nagito recalled the events that transpired not too long ago. He remembered about Chiaki pushing him. The guys who beat him up. Kazuichi Soda. Chiaki's friends. Hajime, lying to him and chasing him down the hallway. He felt slightly dizzier than before after reminiscing and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. After a moment of silence, he adjusted himself.

Looking down from where he had been resting, underneath him was a bed with thin white layers of sheets that neatly draped over his lower body. He got up and carefully lifted them up, which revealed his legs. Although his jeans were still on, and his legs weren't bare, there were visible bruises that could be seen through the rips. They weren't even ripped jeans, to begin with! Nagito looked at his jacket too- one of the sleeves somehow stretched, and the zipper came off. A small part of his other sleeve had been torn off. Nagito got up exhaustedly and looked around the room, unsure of where he was. 

_ What happened to me?  _ He __ wondered. In the dim room, there had been shelves that were all placed in a row. In each drawer, there were little bottles with small labels, which Nagito couldn't have read from where he was resting. There was a small desk that held many more drawers with it. On top of the desk lay a picture frame and a vase with one dandelion on it. Additionally, there was a rolling chair as well, which had been tucked into the desk. 

_ Where am I, anyway?  _ He knew that this wasn't his own room or anyone else's at home. Judging from the different objects in the room, he inferred that it was some kind of nurse's office. Nagito didn't want anybody to waste more time on him than needed and carefully hopped out of bed and limped to the door. But when he reached for the knob, somebody twisted it and immediately swung it open, alarming him. He fell backwards and grunted in pain. When he looked up, he was met with a concerned face. 

She had short, sandy blonde hair, which covered one of her green eyes. The woman wore one long, black apron and a white dress shirt underneath it, along with a neat grey tie. Black leather gloves covered her hands, and there were dark tights that coated her legs. She kneeled down in front of him.

"Hello. Are you alright, Komaeda, sir?" she asked. Nagito nodded silently and stiffly, taken aback by her mannerisms. The lady took his hand and helped him stand up. "You mustn't be walking as soon as you wake up. Please, take a seat on the mattress." She pulled on his arm in the direction of the small bed.

"Hey, wait for a second," Nagito protested hastily. Although he wasn't sure how she figured out his name, that wasn't important at the moment. He didn't want to trouble the young woman any longer. "It's alright, really. I feel fine." He tried to leave the room once more before she stopped him.

"I'm sorry, but this is not a request. I was told to make sure you were in good condition before you exit this room." Sighing in defeat, he finally obliged after a long-lasting argument. He walked over to the bed and sat down at the edge of it.

"Thank you, Mr. Komaeda, sir. I would like to apologize, as I have forgotten to introduce myself. My name is Kirumi Tojo, and I am the school janitor. I enjoy cleaning and assisting every student. I try to fulfill everybody's commands when given to me. It is a pleasure to meet you." She shot him a small smile but turned away quickly went to the shelves, shuffling through small containers. 

"The pleasure is mine," he said, holding back a yawn. "May I ask you a question, Ms. Tojo?" Tojo turned away from the cupboard and looked at him.

"Of course. And please- Kirumi is fine."

_ It seems that many teachers here preferred to be called by their first name. _

"Thanks, Kirumi. I was curious about something. Considering I have no idea how I got here, do you mind telling me what happened to me and why I'm in this room?" She nodded.

"According to a student, they found you unconscious somewhere in the school corridors. They dragged you to the nurse's office, and I was there by coincidence. I was given your name, items and a request by that student. They wanted to make sure that you were in good shape since you had many injuries on your body. It was an unusual request from them, that's for sure. They are a very close student of mine, so I agreed. I took you in and spent the last while treating your wounds, which were luckily weren't fatal. The reason why I was out of the room was that I assumed you wouldn't be up in a while. After that, the rest is history." she pulled out a small container from the shelf and read the contents.

"Oh, I see," Nagito slowly took in the information. "Who was the student?" He wasn't answered but instead heard the container softly hit the nightstand.

"I'm going to get you some water. I will be right back." She swiftly left the room. Nagito lifted the container and read off the information on it before placing it down. He could barely read it, and Nagito already felt a mild headache coming on.

There was something else on the nightstand. Taking a closer look, Nagito realized that it was his phone that lay there face down. He picked it up and turned it on. To his surprise and confusion, loads of notifications popped up onto the screen from phone numbers that he never heard of before. Puzzled, he tapped on the messaging app he was using. He scrolled to the bottom of the list and selected the first contact that showed on his screen before he read through the texts that he got.

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ hey- youre the einstien lookin guy, right? _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ ms titless made sure that i said something nice to ya _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ you better be thankful _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ but anyway _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ those people you ran into are total dicks, so i stan you for talking shit back _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ this is miu btw _

He was confused by how Miu was able to find his number but was thankful for her kind words nonetheless. He always assumed that she liked making fun of him, and only that. He took a look at her contact picture, which looked like it was taken recently at school. She held up a peace sign with a big grin on her face. 

Nagito did remember Kokichi taking his phone when he went to the cafeteria to get some more food at lunch. The line took much longer than usual. When he returned, he saw the others crowding Kokichi, who still held Nagito's phone.

When he asked, Kokichi explained that he was playing one of his games that he downloaded. That was probably one of Kokichi's lies, and they were most likely adding themselves to his contact list instead. Smiling fondly, he changed the empty contact name to "Miu," exited the chat and looked at the next contact.

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ wsp  _

**_ (unknown number) - _ ** _ ur nagito rght? _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ u took a big beeting man _

**_ (unknown number) - _ ** _ get better. k, bro? _

He chuckled as he skimmed through the jumbled words quickly. Nagito quickly concluded that it was Kaito who typed such a brief message, with horrible grammar. Looking at his profile picture, Komaeda recognized the purple hair immediately. He had his thumb up and had one eye closed with a cocky grin. He looked through some of the other texts when he finished changing his contact name, then clicked on the other unknown user on his phone.

**_ (unknown number) - _ ** _ hey, nagito _

**_ (unknown number) - _ ** _ We don't really talk _

**_ (unknown number) - _ ** _ But things must be tough for you _

**_ (unknown number) - _ ** _ I'm sorry you have to go through that _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ bullies are pieces of shit _

**_ (unknown number) - _ ** _ By the way, Fuyuhiko and I are both texting from the same phone _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ I'm _ **__ ** _ just letting you know. _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ WAIT... DON'T GET THE WRONG IDEA, YOU ASSHOLE _

**_ (unknown number) - _ ** _ Anyway, I hope that you feel bettereers _

After the last text, Nagito imagined that Fuyuhiko tackled Peko to get his phone back. Fuyuhiko's profile picture was himself, with an annoyed expression on his face. The blonde wasn't even looking at the phone- someone held it for him, presumably Peko. Nagito quickly checked Peko's picture and saw that she had a similar expressionless face. This time, however, she was holding the phone and staring at it. He moved onto the next portion of messages. The one that he received was much different from the others that he had gotten.

**_ (unknown number) _ ** __ **_ \-  _ ** _ hi.  _

**_ (unknown number) - _ ** _ hopefully, you didn't die. _

When he clicked on the profile, it only showed a hand covering their face. However, he caught a tiny part of Kaito's purple sleeve and his arm, holding up the phone. After that analysis, Nagito predicted that this person was most likely Maki. After confirming that the person was wearing something red, he knew for sure.

_ Such an obscure message,  _ He thought to himself. Despite that, Nagito was elated that Maki was willing to say something to him in general. She was always quiet and reserved. Looking and clicking the message above showed a very long text.

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ Hello, Nagito! I heard that something happened to you. I'm really sorry, but I'm confident that you can get better quick! Right now, I wish that I was with you right now, so I can play a song for you on the piano! Arietta by Grieg Edvard is such a beautiful song that will leave you with a smile on your face. Please come meet up with us as soon as you can, Nagito. We're all usually in small groups- you can probably find us all around the school when there are breaks. Please stay safe!  _

The paragraph that was sent to him made him smile so widely and so happy that he was scared that he might just start shedding tears right there. Mentioning piano meant that this was from none other than Kaede Akamatsu. Nagito thought Kaede was endearing; she must have spent quite a lot of time writing this. She was very kind to everyone she met, Nagito noticed. She had a great smile on her face when she took her selfie. 

There were only three people left that delivered messages on his phone. Tapping on the first one he saw, there was something written by Kiibo.

**_ (unknown number) - _ ** _ Hello, Nagito! _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ I have heard what happened. _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** Stuff like this occurs a lot here, like that, so it isn't surprising.'

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ Make sure to call one of us when you can! _

**_ (unknown number) - _ ** _ From yours truly, Kiibo Idabashi. _

Nagito smiled at the message that the spikey-haired boy had sent. For some reason, he had written it as if it were a letter, though he didn't particularly mind. Kiibo had a very determined smile on his face in his picture, and there was a small part of Miu's face, who tried photo-bombing it. 

Komaeda looked at the second to last message that was sent to him. 

**_ (unknown number) - _ ** _ Hello, Nagito. I was told what transpired earlier. _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ I think that it was pretty clear what happened, especially with your exchange with Chiaki this morning. _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ Honestly... It was brave of you. I wouldn't have it in myself to do something like that. _

**_ (unknown number) - _ ** _ Feel free to talk to me when we go on the bus. Don't run into any more trouble, okay? _

Nagito assumed this was Shuichi. Despite his warm and encouraging words, but Nagito could tell that he'd definitely be heading into more problems soon. Messing with an intimidating group like Hajime even once would lead to lots of consequences in the long run. Letting out a breath, he looked at the most recent message. Almost immediately, he knew who it was.

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ cloudy _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ cloudy _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ cloudy _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ i saw you dead on the ground _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ so i dragged you to the office _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ you looked like a dead fish _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ hahaahahhaah _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _... _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ look for me when you feel better, okay? _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ you looked really beaten up _

**_ (unknown number) - _ ** _ ... _

**_ (unknown number) -  _ ** _ just kidding! that was a lie! _

Now  _ that  _ wasn't what Nagito had expected at all. Yes, he did tell that the constant spamming and insults would have to be from him, of course, but what he didn't anticipate was the last two messages. They seemed to be written in a stern and caring manner. Kokichi didn't seem like the type who would go out of his way to help those he didn't care about.

_ Wait... Does Kokichi... Care about me? _

At first, Nagito tried to deny that thought, but it kept appearing in his mind. Even though it had only been one full day and a while, people were asking about his wellbeing. Lost in thought, the boy stared and faintly smiled at the wall, still feeling grateful for everybody's words of advice. An abrupt knock on the door then snapped him back to reality.

A worrisome Kirumi rushed inside the room before finally handing Nagito a glass filled with water that sloshed side to side. Her hair and clothing looked ruffled and messy, even containing small water stains on it. When she realized how she looked, she calmly smoothed out her apron before grabbing a comb for her short hair.

"I am sorry, Komaeda," she huffed, appearing exhausted. "It seems that I had some trouble while trying to retrieve a drink for you."

Nagito gaped at her in slight shock from hearing that. "Did it really take you that long for you to get... A glass of water?" he asked bluntly.

Instead of looking offended, Kirumi only let out a short laugh. "It did, yes. On my way to the cafeteria, I accidentally tripped on somebody's shoe, and they fell, dragging me with them. I offered them that I'd quickly polish their footwear to make up for an apology."

"Ah," Nagito nodded. "It didn't occur to me that you would run into anybody on the way there. My apologies."

"No worries. I finished that and was able to make my way to the cafeteria. Unfortunately, I dropped the glass I was carrying on the floor. On the bright side, it was in big pieces, so I quickly found crazy glue from the art room to deal with that."

"Oh. Wow." Nagito didn't know how to respond to that and stayed quiet, knowing that Kirumi was probably not done speaking.

"Soon afterward, I spilled some water on myself, and I needed to refill the water once more, even though I was already near the classroom. Finally, I made it here," the janitor finished calmly. Regretting what he said earlier and fighting the urge to repeatedly apologize, but he kept his mouth shut. They sat in awkward silence, but that soon dissipated once Kirumi spoke up once more.

"You can have your water and leave the room to your respective class now. Thank you for your time." She opened the door to the room and held it for him. Collecting his things and glancing at her, smiling appreciatively, Nagito walked out of the room with Tojo following behind him.

"Thank you. What time is it?

"It's... been an hour and a bit since lunch."

"Oh..." Nagito let out a breath. "I guess I have to head to the gym, then it seems." Doing P.E would totally tire Nagito out, especially after what happened to him earlier. However, he didn't necessarily have a choice. He roamed out into the hallway, with barely anyone to be found. A gloved hand took his own and turned him around. Kirumi stood before him with a hesitant look on her face.

"Wait for a second, Komaeda. I don't think it would be a good idea for you to go to your next designated class, then. It would be too much of a struggle for you." She paused, trying to come up with a solution. A few seconds passed, and she looked up at him with a bright face. "Actually, I might know some people who need help with something. Follow me."

Uncertainty and curiosity visible on his face, he trailed behind the kind lady up the stairs. A few words were exchanged before enclosing into silence. They made it to the door, similar to the others, and Kirumi swung open the door. As soon as it opened, pairs of eyes faced their direction. Some people spoke, mainly out of puzzlement.

"Who's this guy?"

"Wait... could he be?"

"What in the world is he doing here?

Feeling like a little kid about to present a worldwide speech, Nagito awkwardly moved to the side. Soon, the janitor took his spot and introduced him.

"As I assume that some of you are aware, this is Nagito Komaeda. He's going to be helping you guys for the rest of today. If he does end up wanting to join, you all better welcome him with open arms. Otherwise, no pancakes will be brought to you. Hiyoko asked me earlier, and I was considering it." With that, Kirumi shoved Nagito into the room.

"Okay, Nagito. I'll let Chabashira know of your absence. Have a great rest of your day, and don't fear to call me when you need help."

"Thank you, Kirumi," Nagito said with a solemn smile. "I'm not sure how I'll be able to repay you for the future. You've really been so kind as to let me stay here for today."

"It's no problem. I better get going, so I'll see you around." The door shut firmly, leaving Nagito and the others in awkward silence for five seconds.

"Aw, come on!" a young petite girl groaned, breaking the silence. Nagito guessed that this was probably Hiyoko. Nagito had seen her in his Drama class a couple of times. "You're kidding! I was really looking forward to it!" she turned to face Nagito. "Hey! You better not ruin this for us. Forcing yourself on someone's girlfriend was already a low blow!"

"Quiet down, Hiyoko!" a girl with short, red hair scolded. "That's irrevocably rude of you."

Hearing that made Nagito freeze and tense up. 

_ Somebody already started a rumour, it seems.  _ Nagito sighed and took a seat at the edge of the room, unsure if he was even wanted here. The others finally started working again, completely ignoring him. There was one pair of green eyes on him that he recognized from earlier. She had been with Chiaki during the fight, and now she was staring daggers at his eyes. Nagito shifted uncomfortably in his seat, now awaiting the bell to sound. 

All of a sudden, the door burst open, revealing a couple more people. In total, there were probably four, to say the least. They wore large heaves of clothing, probably a costume from somewhere. It was incredibly hard for Nagito to identify them. One cheery, recognizable voice caused him to straighten himself. 

"Hey, guys! We got the- Nagito?! What are you doing here!?" dropping their things, they all rushed to Nagito in a sprint. They toppled over desks and came up to him in worry. What revealed before he was three people he knew but didn't talk to as often as others. Who stood before him was Kaede, Kaito, and Miu. Kaede pulled off the hat she'd been wearing and took Nagito's hands, continuously shaking them.

"Thank goodness you're alright! Oh my god, we had no clue what happened to you when you went inside that office. None of us couldn't get in there. Also, Kokichi was being as stubborn when we asked where you were. He didn't even tell Shuichi. Anyway, what matters is that you're okay now. Why are you here?"

"I came here because I wouldn't be able to do P.E in my current condition," Nagito stated. "I was told to come up here to help out, but I don't think I'm wanted at the moment. Everyone has been glancing at me as if I'm a threat to them."

"Hey, don't think that way," Kaito interfered. "Some of the members just take a while to get along with. Just like Kokichi and I, heh."

"You're probably the third to best of understanding him, Kaito," Kaede pouted. "Shuichi and Nagito are his top two for sure."

"Oh! That's right. How did you and Kokichi even connect that quickly?" the purple-haired boy asked. "I know that he doesn't like making friends outside of our circle."

"Uh..." Nagito had no clue how to respond to a question like that. They simply met in one class, and now he was referred to as one of Kokichi's best friends. It was odd, to say the least, but he didn't necessarily mind. Nagito shrugged, unsure of what to say. Kaede then changed the subject.

"Okay! Let's try being productive for the rest of the block now! Nagito, do you know what this is?" She gestured to the room.

"Nope," Nagito answered, honestly. "The one who escorted me never told me."

"This is the drama club!" Kaito exclaimed. "Can't you believe it?! I, Kaito Momota, gets to be the star actor on stage! We have an upcoming performance soon, and we need to get to work! Chop chop!" Kaito jumped and walked on each desk as if he were doing parkour. Kaede chuckled and followed him, dragging Nagito behind.

"Mahiru! Are you finished printing the posters?" Kaede's gleeful tone echoed throughout the air, and the girl turned back to see her. It was the same student who had told Hiyoko to be quiet. Mahiru had bright grey and olive eyes, and freckles splattered all over her face. 

"Yes, I am! Here you go!" She placed the large stack of papers into Kaede's hands, earning a smile from her. 

"Thanks! Do you think you and Nagito can go out in the school and place some around the area for me?" Mahiru took a quick glance at him. She tensely nodded after several seconds of silence. 

"Sure." Nagito could already tell that she was not excited about this at all. It made sense since the first thing that she heard about him was that he acted very inappropriate around women. 

"I can go with you," a voice spoke up. To Nagito's surprise, it wasn't Kaede or Kaito- it was Miu. "I'll do it."

"Wait, huh?" Kaede exclaimed, clearly shocked. "Miu, are you sure? I thought that you didn't like-"

"Calm it, Titless! I'm not in danger. I know that Nagito's a cool guy!"

"Ah... If you say so, Miu." Kaede rolled her eyes in defeat. "You're still going to finish making those props, though."

"Don't worry about it! Keebster is already awesome at this shit!"

"Well, alright, then," Mahiru spoke. "I assume that we're going?"

"Hell yeah!" let's go, Naggytoes and Mahairy!" She grabbed Nagito by the hood of his jacket and Mahiru's sleeve before dragging them out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HO-LY SHIT. I AM SO SORRY FOR POSTING THIS PIECE OF CRAP REALLY REALLY LATE OMGOMGOMGOGM IM SO SORRY AAAAAAAAAA
> 
> THANK YOU ALL FOR SM SUPPORT OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS. THE COMMENTS ARE EITHER VERY HELPFUL, SWEET AS HELL OR JUST VERY FUNNY
> 
> SCHOOLS BEEN AN ASSHOLE TOO! ITS BEEN HOLDING MY SCHEDULE BACK BY ALOT AND I APOLOGIZE FOR THAT-
> 
> ANNYWAY I WANT MIU IN THIS ACTION AND CRAP SO UHHH HERE.
> 
> once again, thank you for your support. from the bottom of my heart, it really means a lot to me. i rushed the ending of this once more since I really wanted to get something out. there's a possibility where i'll edit this soon. anyways tysm againn


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